Eyeworld

20 | EYEWORLD | SPRING 2025 ASCRS NEWS ASCRS FOUNDATION UPDATE ASCRS Foundation spotlight on humanitarian efforts with Andrew Chang and Zeiss The ASCRS Foundation appreciates the support of its many partners in helping promote its mission of eradicating preventable blindness through education, industry resources, and em- powering the ophthalmic community to provide humanitarian ophthalmic surgery and care, both domestically and abroad. The ASCRS Foundation would like to spotlight the efforts of Carl Zeiss Meditec and Andrew Chang, president of Carl Zeiss Meditec USA and co-chair of the ASCRS Foundation Industry Relations Committee. Carl Zeiss Meditec, Mr. Chang said, is a business of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, which means at the company's core is a responsibil- ity to "accelerate social health and well-being through innovation." He added that this incred- ibly important responsibility helps to guide the company's vision and strategy. "Zeiss strives to create value for a sustainable society through its products and to provide access to high-qual- ity healthcare to as many people as possible. Ultimately, this comes to life when we have opportunities to give back to the communities in which we live and work." According to Mr. Chang, Zeiss has been participating with the ASCRS Foundation for many years. Zeiss, he said, is deeply committed to charity work, both around the world and in the U.S. Mr. Chang said that he and ASCRS Founda- tion Executive Director Abby Markward realized that they had an opportunity to increase collab- oration and build on what both groups do well. "We wanted to accelerate our collaboration because we are passionate about giving back to this amazing eyecare community that we're a part of." Mr. Chang said on a personal level, he is dedicated to giving back as well, in terms of his own financial contributions and giving of his time and resources to charitable activities. He said that Zeiss and the ASCRS Foun- dation work well together. "There's a lot of activities that we've jointly driven and accom- plished together," he said, adding that part of these efforts are to help align the goals of everyone involved. He referenced, for example, Zeiss' recent collaboration with the Health in Sight Mission and Paul Kang, MD, who have orchestrated mission trips in Honduras. This is something that Mr. Chang personally took part in, mentioning that the Health in Sight Mission is just one of many groups that is working to- ward humanitarian care, and he looks forward to highlighting and featuring others who are making similar efforts. "Now we're doing even more to accelerate these efforts with the help of the ASCRS Foun- dation," Mr. Chang said. "We're using our com- munication channels to build awareness about critical donation and charity work, whether it's people, resources, products in kind, or mone- tary support." Mr. Chang said it's been amazing to see the impact. "Without our desperately needed support, there were rural areas where people would have gone blind and lost their sight per- manently. It could be for the simplest reasons, and we were able to change their futures with basic care. Then the dilemma becomes figuring out how to deploy the same care in a way that is sustainable. I think that's our long-term goal." As part of the ASCRS Foundation Indus- try Relations Committee, he said there was a massive effort to support sustainable care in the past by prior board members, like David Chang, MD, Jim Mazzo, and others. "This continues to be our job to try to figure out how to support industry and find other ways industry can get involved." Mr. Chang and Jeannette Bankes from Alcon are co-leaders of the ASCRS Foundation Industry Relations Committee. "Even in difficult times or despite shortfalls in product availabil- ity, we're trying to figure out if we can still pro- vide care to those in need around the world," he said. "For example, how do we extend these opportunities to other industry leaders, so they can contribute to the work being done?" Providing the opportunity for industry leaders News from the ASCRS Foundation

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