FAIRFAX, Va.—Thomas W. Samuelson, MD, a world-renowned ophthalmologist who specializes in the medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma and disorders of the anterior segment, will assume his role as president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in April 2018. He currently serves as ASCRS vice president and will replace the outgoing president, Bonnie An Henderson, MD. Dr. Samuelson will deliver the president’s address tomorrow during the Opening General Session of the ASCRS•ASOA (American Society of Ophthalmic Administrators) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

“I am incredibly honored to assume the role as the 33rd president of ASCRS,” said Dr. Samuelson. “ASCRS uniquely provides a synergistic environment bringing all interested parties together to accomplish great things. The advances in anterior segment surgery in recent decades were unimaginable when I finished my fellowship. These advances would not have been possible without the collegial spirit between industry and practitioners fostered by ASCRS.”

Based in Minneapolis, Minn., Dr. Samuelson is an attending surgeon and founding partner of Minnesota Eye Consultants and an adjunct professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Samuelson is a past president of the International Society of Spaeth Fellows/Wills Eye Hospital Glaucoma Fellowship Society. He received the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) Achievement Award in 2002, the AAO Senior Achievement Award in 2008, and the AAO Secretariate Award in 2015. He has also been named to “America’s Top Doctors” each year since 2002 and was named to The Ophthalmologist’s 2018 listing of the 100 most influential people in ophthalmology.

Dr. Samuelson is a member of the American Glaucoma Society (AGS) and serves on its executive committee. He is member and past chair of the ASCRS Glaucoma Clinical Committee and the ASCRS governing board. He has served as associate secretariat of the AAO Annual Meeting and is former chair of the AAO Skills Transfer Course Committee. Dr. Samuelson also serves as the Glaucoma Section Editor for Ocular Surgery News and is an editorial board member for Glaucoma Today.

Dr. Samuelson received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota College of Medicine. He completed his internship at the University of Wisconsin Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wis., and completed residency training in ophthalmology at the University of South Florida Eye Institute in Tampa, Florida. He completed a glaucoma fellowship at the Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Penn.

More information on the ASCRS•ASOA Annual Meeting (held April 13 to 17, 2018) may be found at AnnualMeeting.ascrs.org.