Eyeworld

congenital eye disorders common in Saudi Arabia, Dr. Song said. The in- stitutions will work together to com- pare techniques for corneal transplants, which KKESH performs more than 1,300 times a year, Dr. Behrens said. In addition to corneal trans- plantation advances, Samuel Yiu, M.D., chief of anterior segment, KKESH and Wilmer, would like the collaboration to lead to further stud- ies into keratoconus because of the large number of keratoconus pa- tients in Saudi Arabia. "We'd like to capture clinical data on the Saudi side and from a basic science point of view, shed light on its etiology," he said. The use of Avastin injections for corneal neovascularization is an- other area of interest, Dr. Yiu said. "We'd like to do a retrospective re- port and a prospective study and see if it can be used worldwide," Dr. Yiu said. Sometimes data may be col- lected at KKESH but analyzed by fac- ulty at Wilmer or Johns Hopkins, Dr. Edward said. "In a year or so, we should see reports in the journals about the outcomes [of these stud- ies]," he said. KKESH also hopes to involve fel- lows more frequently in collabora- tive research, said Sawsan Nowilaty, M.D., director of medical education, KKESH. Thus far, visiting faculty from Wilmer have expanded med- ical education at the facility by giv- ing presentations during the hospital's weekly educational ses- sions, Dr. Nowilaty said. Dr. Nowilaty said two Wilmer faculty are working with KKESH to create a more standardized fellow- ship curriculum. "We want to take advantage of what's available in the West and come up with a program that combines the strong points of [both institutions]," Dr. Nowilaty said. The collaboration between KKESH and Wilmer will hopefully advance eyecare treatment and bet- ter train future ophthalmologists, Dr. McDonnell said. "Our long-term goals for the af- filiation include world-class re- search; Wilmer faculty in leadership roles at KKESH helping to train a fu- ture generation of ophthalmologists in that country in the American model of academic ophthalmology; Wilmer continuing a long legacy of working with ophthalmologists around the world; and Wilmer bene- fiting from the experiences that its faculty have working abroad and re- turning to Baltimore," Dr. McDon- nell said. EW Editors' note: The physicians inter- viewed have no financial interests re- lated to their comments. Contact information Behrens: abehrens@jhmi.edu Edward: Deepak.edward@gmail.com McDonnell: 443-287-1511, pmcdonn1@jhmi.edu Nowilaty: snowilaty@kkesh.med.sa Song: jsong41@jhmi.edu EW Ophthalmology Business 48 July 2011 World-class continued from page 45 EyeWorld factoid The Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health allocates as much as 10% of its total healthcare re- sources to eyecare Source: "A Forecast of Ophthal- mology Practice Trends in Saudi Arabia: A Survey of Junior Residents," Middle East African Journal of Ophthalmology

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