Gholam Ali Peyman is an Iranian scientist and a member of Ophthalmology Hall of Fame. His fame relates mostly to his invention of LASIK, an operation whereby people with limited eyesight can retain their vision without glasses.
Born in Shiraz, Iran, Peyman left the country for Germany to study medicine at the age of 19. He received his MD as general practitioner from the University of Duisburg-Essen in 1962. In 1969 he accomplished his Specialist Doctorate course in ophthalmology at Essen. Then he moved to the US for a postdoctoral fellowship and was made Assistant Professor of ophthalmology at UCLA.
He is currently Professor of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of Arizona. In December 2012 he was nominated for receiving the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for his innovation, LASIK. He will receive the medal officially from the President of the United States next month.
Peyman revolutionized ophthalmological surgery when he patented his innovation LASIK in 1989. In 2005, he was recognized by over 30,000 world ophthalmologists as a member of the Ophthalmology House of Fame.
He holds patent for more than 135 innovations.
Following Peyman’s globally outstanding achievements, Mehr News Agency’s Modern Technologies group conducted an interview with him.
MNA: Is your innovation LASIK likely to bring back sight to the non-congenitally blind?
Peyman: This technology can correct the eyesight of the myopic, long-sighted, and the astigmatic. This is to say that LASIK can correct the visual abnormalities of the eye, whereas blindness relates to the function of the retina.
MNA: Have you recently registered an innovation or are you doing some new research? If yes, explain a bit, please.
Peyman: As a general question, the answer is yes. The innovations make a long list and do not relate to LASIK.
MNA: Are you willing to cooperate with Iranian universities and researchers?
Peyman: Sure enough I like working with Iranian researchers and institutions. I’ve had long cooperations with physicians at Labbafi Nejad Hospital in Tehran and my colleagues at Farabi Hospital.
MNA: Can we expect a day when there is no blind?
Peyman: I have no doubt that we will see the day, when we prevent or treat major diseases that affect the eyesight and lead to blindness.
MNA: What do you think of the role of stem cells in eye diseases? Have you conducted any studies in this regard?
Peyman: Since the New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina, I lost my laboratory and I have not been able to follow my interests in this field. But I know this field is very promising. Currently, the role of stem cells in curing retina diseases and astigmatism is under study. Some promising results are also reached at for patients with systemic Lymphoma.
MNA: What is your ultimate goal in medical research?
Peyman: My goal, like any other ophthalmologists’, is to prevent or cure disease which leads to blindness, so we may assuage some of our patients’ suffering.
Source: Mehr News Agency