Peter Wiedemann (born 23 October 1953 in Erlangen, West Germany) is a German ophthalmologist, specialist in medical and surgical retina and was head at the Department of Ophthalmology at the Leipzig University, Germany, from 1993 to 2021.
After finishing high school in Ingolstadt, he studied medicine in Bochum, Rennes, Stanford and in Erlangen. [1] The following four years he spent in the field of pharmacology, beginning his work at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. During a research stay at the Doheny Eye Institute of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles he worked for Stephen J. Ryan. K. Heimann, who later became his teacher during the succeeding residency at the University of Cologne, and Stephen J. Ryan became his mentors and the most influential persons of his academic and clinical life. After his residency, he stayed in Cologne till 1993. At the age of 39, he got the position of professor and chair at Leipzig University. [2] Along with his clinical work in Leipzig, he continued his research work in the field of macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR).
He was a member of the directorate of the University Hospital of Leipzig (1995–1999), the Executive Vice President of the Leipzig University (2003–2006), the President of the Saxonian Ophthalmological Society (1994, 1999, 2005, 2008 and 2012), the President of the German Ophthalmological Society (2009) [3] [4] and member of the Club Jules Gonin Executive Committee (2000–2006).
He is currently the Secretary General of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, [5] a board member of the ICO (International Council of Ophthalmology), the Scientific Program Chair for the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) (since June 2010), [6] member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, member of the European Academy of Ophthalmology [7] as well as of the European Board of Ophthalmology and guest professor of Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Wiedemann has published more than 400 peer reviewed papers and eight books. His clinical papers focus on proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), myopia and diabetic retinopathy. His basic science papers concern the role of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) or Muller cells in retinal diseases. As the co-editor of the Ryan's RETINA 5th edition, the standard reference for retinologist worldwide, he was responsible for the surgical section. [8]
Ophthalmology is a clinical and surgical specialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Diabetic retinopathy, is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries and one of the lead causes of sight loss in the world, even though there are many new therapies and improved treatments for helping people live with diabetes.
Ian Jeffrey Constable is an Australian ophthalmologist and the founder and director of the Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Western Australia. He was the Foundation Lions Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Western Australia, and the Foundation Director of UWA's Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science. He is now Patron of the Lions Eye Institute.
Marc Amsler was a professor of ophthalmology in the Eye Clinic at the University of Zurich.
Laser coagulation or laser photocoagulation surgery is used to treat a number of eye diseases and has become widely used in recent decades. During the procedure, a laser is used to finely cauterize ocular blood vessels to attempt to bring about various therapeutic benefits.
Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a disease that develops as a complication of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. PVR occurs in about 8–10% of patients undergoing primary retinal detachment surgery and prevents the successful surgical repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. PVR can be treated with surgery to reattach the detached retina but the visual outcome of the surgery is very poor. A number of studies have explored various possible adjunctive agents for the prevention and treatment of PVR, such as methotrexate, although none have yet been licensed for clinical use.
Ulrich Meyer-Bothling is an ophthalmic surgeon and research scientist. He is founding member and past Clinical Director of the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening service for Surrey.
Yog Raj Sharma is an Indian ophthalmologist and ex-chief of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, the apex body of the National Programme for the Control of Blindness, a Government of India initiative to reduce the prevalence of blindness in India. He is the Chairman of the Task Force on Prevention and Control of Diabetic Retinopathy Group and the Co-Chairman of the National Task Force on Prevention of Blindness from Retinopathy of Prematurity under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India. An advisor to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India. Sharma was honored by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award. In 2005, Yog Raj Sharma's published article on "Pars plana vitrectomy vs scleral buckling in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment" in Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica and in November 2021, American society of retina specialists cited it as top 100 publications on retinal detachment management in the last ~121 years. Of these top hundred publications, only nineteen countries contributed, three of the contributing countries were Asian and from India this study was the sole contribution. Dr Sharma called it 'the singular biggest achievement of his career" in an article published in Daily Excelsior, Jammu in December 2021.
Joan Whitten Miller is a Canadian-American ophthalmologist and scientist who has made notable contributions to the treatment and understanding of eye disorders. She is credited for developing photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne), the first pharmacologic therapy for retinal disease. She also co-discovered the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in eye disease and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of VEGF inhibitors, forming the scientific basis of anti-VEGF therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, and related conditions.
Berthold Seitz is a German ophthalmologist, professor and director of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Saarland University Medical Center in Homburg, Saarland. He is known for his scientific contributions in the fields of cornea transplantation, cataract surgery and artificial lens-calculation after refractive corneal surgery as well as techniques of amniotic membrane transplantation and its histological integration patterns in the cornea.
Paul Anton Cibis was a clinical ophthalmologist, surgeon and pioneer of modern vitreoretinal surgery. As part of Operation Paperclip Cibis came to the United States and performed research for the U.S. Air Force and studied the effects of atomic weapons testing on the eye. He was an internationally recognized expert in retinal detachment surgery and pioneered the use of liquid silicon for this procedure.
Robert Machemer was a German-American ophthalmologist, ophthalmic surgeon, and inventor. He is sometimes called the "father of modern retinal surgery."
Akira Nakajima was a Japanese ophthalmologist.
Émile Jules Marie Joseph François was a Belgian ophthalmologist.
Atul Kumar is an Indian ophthalmologist who is currently the Chief & Professor of Ophthalmology at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences (RPC-AIIMS), the national apex ophthalmic centre at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. He was awarded the Padma Shri award in January 2007 for his services to the medical field. He specializes in vitreoretinal surgery and also heads the Vitreo-Retinal, Uvea and ROP services at RPC-AIIMS.
Noemi Lois is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Queen's University Belfast and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Paul A. Sieving is a former director of the National Eye Institute, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Prior to joining the NIH in 2001, he served on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School as the Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmic Genetics. He also was the founding director of the Center for Retinal and Macular Degeneration in the university's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
Alice McPherson was a Canadian-born physician and professor who dedicated her career to the diagnosis and treatment of retinal disease. She founded the Retina Research Foundation and the McPherson Eye Research Institute. She was awarded the University of Lausanne Gonin Medal in 2014.
Richard Frederick Spaide is an American ophthalmologist and retinal specialist known for his work in retinal diseases and advancements in ocular imaging techniques.
Justine R. Smith AM is an Australian ophthalmic surgeon and vision researcher. Today she is based at Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Smith was awarded Member of the Order of Australia "for significant service to ophthalmology, particularly research and education" in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours. She received the Flinders University Alumni Convocation Medal in 2022, the Gold Medal of the International Ocular Inflammation Society in 2023, and the Joanne Angle Service Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 2024.