David L. Epstein, MD, MMM, has been elected president of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO), the national organization for chairs of ophthalmology programs, as well as residency and research directors of ophthalmology departments in the United States and Canada.

His appointment will take effect April 1, 2011, after serving as president-elect in 2010.

Dr. Epstein is the Joseph A.C. Wadsworth Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Duke University School of Medicine. He is also the recipient of several grants from the National Eye Institute and Research to Prevent Blindness.

He is the author of more than 200 scholarly papers and consults in glaucoma clinical care while maintaining an active glaucoma research program. He has received several awards for his work and has served on numerous national scientific advisory boards, often as chairman; he served as president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in 1992-93.

Epstein has a special interest in fostering physician-scientists’ careers in ophthalmology and translating the best in science to the understanding and treatment of human ocular disease.

About AUPO

The AUPO was formed to serve, strengthen, and represent academic departments of ophthalmology and to provide support, information and leadership opportunities to departmental chairs, program directors, and other faculty members.

The organization promotes excellence in ophthalmic education and fosters vision research and promotion of ethical practices.

About Duke Eye Center and the Albert Eye Research Institute

Established in 1973, the Duke Eye Center is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art eye care to the more than 130,000 patients it serves each year.

The Duke Eye Center seeks to preserve and restore the sight of present and future generations by continuing to provide the highest quality and most complete health care to our patients, by developing new knowledge and skills, and by passing on our knowledge to other health care providers and patients.

Research at the Duke Eye Center achieved special prominence with the opening of the Ruth and Herman Albert Institute (AERI) in April 2005.

The 72,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility has an auditorium and resource center on the first floor, clinical space for the Eye Center's Pediatric and Strabismus Service on the second floor, and faculty offices on the third floor.

Open-lab design research labs on the fourth and fifth floor provide an environment for collaboration among researchers. The successful team approach of clinicians and basic scientists working together -- taking knowledge from the laboratory bench to the clinic to better serve patients -- has made the Eye Center a pioneer in translational research.

The AERI and Duke Eye Center are committed to translating the best in science to new understandings and new treatments for all eye diseases.