A Tribute to Dr Gholam A Peyman

Gholam A Peyman is an outstanding and brilliant mentor, educator, scientist, and surgeon. Dr Peyman was born in Shiraz, Iran and upon finishing high school, moved t o G e r m a n y. H e completed medical school, a residency in ophthalmology a n d a f e l l o w s h i p program in vitreoretinal diseases. After finishing his fellowship, Dr Peyman sought further training in the US. During Dr Peyman's training as a fellow in vitreoretinal disease at (UCLA), he was offered a position as Assistant Professor. After a meeting with Dr Morton Goldberg he was recruited for a position at the University of Illinois, Chicago, where he was a faculty member until 1987. He then moved to New Orleans where he served as the Chief of Vitreoretinal Surgery at Louisiana State University Eye Center and then at Tulane University. Throughout his career in Chicago and New Orleans, his research was constantly decorated with spectacular accomplishments and he received numerous grants from the NIH, and various foundations and pharmaceutical companies. In 2001, after hurricane Katrina he relocated to Arizona where he joined the faculty of the University of Arizona, Tucson, as Joint Professor of Optical Science & Engineering. In 2009, he finally retired from Tulane Medical School, however he did not give up his academic activity and showed that retirement was not the end of his career, it was actually a new life. Dr Peyman's achievements are outstanding. He has authored 879 scientific papers, 10 books, and 4 book chapters during his accomplished career that spans through 40 years and still continues today. He is a member of the editorial board of 9 distinguished ophthalmology journals. He has received the most prestigious of awards and achieved the highest of accolades including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and inclusion in the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Hall of Fame. Dr Peyman conducted pioneering studies in intraocular drug delivery, and refractive and vitreoretinal surgery. He established the techniques of eye-wall resection and endoresection for intraocular tumors, and was the first to perform a retinochoroidal biopsy and transplant retinal pigment epithelial cells for age-related macular degeneration. He is also a pioneer in photodynamic therapy. Dr Peyman's innovative investigations have resulted in 120 US patents, the most for any ophthalmologist. He described the first pressure-controlled valve (the Krupin valve) …