Eyeworld

50 | EYEWORLD | SPRING 2025 ASCRS NEWS ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING PREVIEW by Ellen Stodola Editorial Co-Director T he ASCRS Foundation Board proudly announced its selection of Elena Barraquer, MD, for the 2025 Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award. Endowed by a generous gift from David and Victoria Chang, the ASCRS Founda- tion Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award was established in 2017 to honor and recognize outstanding humanitarian work in the field of cataract blindness and disability. The $100,000 award is donated to the awardee's non-profit organization of choice. Dr. Barraquer has earmarked the financial prize for the Elena Barraquer Foundation. For many years, Dr. Barraquer has led the Elena Barraquer Foundation, a nonprofit organi- zation that fights avoidable blindness due to cat- aracts in developing countries. The foundation leads short-term surgical missions around the world to perform sight-restoring cataract sur- gery, taking all surgical equipment and supplies needed to perform the surgery. Over the last 6 years, the Elena Barraquer Foundation has pro- vided access to eye health to more than 120,000 people in more than 20 countries. Additionally, the Elena Barraquer Foundation has performed 25,000 pro bono cataract surgeries, more than 50,000 medical consultations, and delivered more than 65,000 glasses. Dr. Barraquer's interest in ophthalmology and humanitarian eyecare started from an early age, as she has a rich family history with oph- thalmology and the Barraquer Ophthalmology Centre. Her grandparents lived in the building where the clinic was and her parents did as well. "My brother, my sister, and I lived inside an eye clinic," she said. "I was seeing every day how my father and my grandfather enjoyed the work, enjoyed the profession, taking care of people." Not only did ophthalmology run in her fam- ily but so did a history of charitable work. "My grandfather also had a charity section because when he built the clinic, he was working at a private clinic that he owned and also at a public hospital. He didn't want any of his patients to be left out. He decided that one side of the clinic was going to be for paying patients and another side for non-paying patients." After her grandfa- ther's death, the clinic continued to offer chari- table surgery and prices for those who couldn't afford ophthalmic care. Dr. Barraquer said her first job was in the U.S. at the National Eye Institute doing re- search. It was through this job that she ended up on her first ophthalmic mission trip in 1979. "When I was there, a team from the clinical part of the National Eye Institute was going to do a mission in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and they asked me," she said. "It was amazing, and I think that was the seed of what I'm doing now—my grandfather's work and that trip that we took to Port-au-Prince." She saw many situations that didn't need to exist and patients in need, which she noted of- ten happens in countries where they don't have the technological resources, the human resourc- es, and monetary resources to afford healthcare that patients need. Following her work at the National Eye Institute, she worked at Wilmer Eye Institute for 2 years doing eye pathology. She completed her residency at Mass Eye and Ear, followed by a cornea fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye In- stitute. "After that, I married an Italian ophthal- mologist, and I was in Italy for 13 years," she said. "I had seen how ophthalmology is done in what are considered [some of] the best hos- pitals in the U.S." With that and moving on to practice in Italy, Dr. Barraquer said this helped Elena Barraquer, MD, selected as recipient of 2025 ASCRS Foundation Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award Dr. Barraquer with a patient in Kenya in 2017 Source: Elena Barraquer Foundation continued on page 53

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