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EW ASCRS•ASOA 2017 70 ASCRS•ASOA Program Preview • May 5–9, 2017 by Liz Hillman EyeWorld Staff Writer The EyePass completed several FDA studies, but the project was abandoned during the Phase 3 clini- calD trial because the parent compa- ny underwent a reorganization. Concepts from EyePass, how- ever, live on today in the iStent (Glaukos, San Clemente, California), which acquired rights to EyePass patents. "And innovation goes on," Dr. Brown said. "We are currently working with a team at Georgia Tech to develop technology that will en- hance the efficacy of MIGS devices." With some of his own devices not fully coming to fruition in their originally conceived state, Dr. Brown has wondered why he didn't give up and stop innovating in these moments. "For the first 30 years, it was only failure and disappointment," he said. "But with each innovation, I thought we really had the answer. Hope is a powerful driver but not always rational. "My own view is that inno- vation is a compulsion...It almost seems like people who [innovate] can't stop," he added. Dr. Brown's Kelman Innovator's Lecture, "Overcoming Resistance: Making Glaucoma a Surgical Dis- ease," speaks to both the literal goal of overcoming resistance to outflow in the eye and this lowering pressure glaucoma and cataract surgery devic- es and instruments. Dr. Brown's first innovation, developed while he was still in residency, was an internal sclerec- tomy that was performed with a modified vitrectomy trephine called the "trabecuphine." It could create an internal filtering operation in just minutes without a conjunctival incision or a dissected scleral flap. The internal approach to filtering surgery—combined with an implant to keep the hole open and regulate flow—is the basis for the current XEN Gel Stent (AqueSys acquired by Allergan, Dublin, Ireland). His next innovation was a device placed in the cornea that drained fluid directly into the tear film. This device reached the trial stage with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but eventually was not pursued. However, the idea of trans-corneal drainage is now being investigated by MicroOptx (Maple Grove, Minnesota), and its device is set to begin a human feasi- bility study this year. In 1999, Drs. Brown and Lynch developed the EyePass Glaucoma Implant (GMP Vision Solutions, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), which is considered the first trabecular bypass device. "We really thought the EyePass would fix glaucoma surgically," Dr. Brown said, adding that what they didn't expect was how hard, long, and expensive approval would be. story of how glaucoma is becoming a surgical disease. "Selecting me for this award demonstrates a recognition that glaucoma is a critical component of the ASCRS. In fact, I think it is fair to say that the immense sup- port from the ASCRS—both as an organization as well as through key members—has been critical to the success of MIGS," Dr. Brown contin- ued. "This award is also vindication for the incredible efforts of so many people who have labored for so many years in developing the break- through devices and procedures we have today." Dr. Brown graduated cum laude from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and completed medi- cal school at the University of Mich- igan, Ann Arbor. His ophthalmology residency was at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, and he completed a glaucoma fellow- ship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, before returning to Wilmer as chief resident. Before entering private practice in Atlanta in 1999, Dr. Brown served for 11 years as director of the Glau- coma Service at Emory Eye Center, Atlanta, where he was also the first Pamela Humphrey Firman Professor of Ophthalmology. Dr. Brown and his wife, Mary Lynch, MD, Atlanta, have been awarded 27 patents together for Evolution of glaucoma as a surgical disease will take center stage at the Charles D. Kelman, MD, Innovator's Lecture I f anyone can speak to glaucoma as a surgical disease, it's Reay H. Brown, MD, Atlanta Oph- thalmology Associates, Atlanta. Entering the field 3 decades ago, Dr. Brown's innovations have laid the foundation for many of the microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) options currently available and more. For his contributions, Dr. Brown is being honored with the Charles D. Kelman, MD, Innovator's Lecture and Medal at the 2017 ASCRS•ASOA Symposium & Congress in Los Angeles. "Receiving the Kelman Inno- vator award is the highlight of my career," Dr. Brown said. "It is an award that I never expected, but I am grateful to be the among the few glaucoma specialists to receive it. The Innovator's Lecture gives me the opportunity to tell part of the Reay H. Brown, MD, to deliver Innovator's Lecture at ASCRS April 2017 continued on page 72 Past Kelman Lecturers • Graham D. Barrett, FRANZCO, 2016 • Shigeru Kinoshita, MD, PhD, 2015 • Warren E. Hill, MD, 2014 • Richard Mackool, MD, 2013 • Douglas D. Koch, MD, 2012 • Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, 2011 • Henry F. Edelhauser, PhD, 2010 • Robert H. Osher, MD, 2009 • Theo Seiler, MD, PhD, 2008 • Okihiro Nishi, MD, 2007 • Kensaku Miyake, MD, 2006 • Carmen A. Puliafito, MD, 2005 • John Marshall, PhD, 2004 • Ioannis G. Pallikaris, MD, 2003 • David J. Apple, MD, 2002 • Gholam A. Peyman, MD, 2001 • Stephen D. Klyce, PhD, 2000 • David J. McIntyre, MD, 1999 • Manus C. Kraff, MD, 1998 • Luis A. Ruiz, MD, 1997 • James P. Gills, MD, 1996 • Leo D. Bores, MD, 1995 • I. Howard Fine, MD, 1994 • D. Peter Choyce, MS, FRCS, 1993 • Joaquin Barraquer, MD, 1992 • David Miller, MD/Robert Stegmann, MD, 1991 • Herbert E. Kaufman, MD, 1990 • C. William Simcoe, MD, 1989 • John L. Pearce, Ch.M, DO, 1988 • Daniele S. Aron-Rosa, MD, 1987 • Steven P. Shearing, MD, 1986 • Charles D. Kelman, MD, 1985 Reay H. Brown, MD

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