A prestigious award
November 2005

In October, at a special dinner event hosted by the International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS), Dr Michael Lawless from The Eye Institute was presented with the prestigious Founders' Award which recognises extraordinary contributions to the growth and advancement of the Society and its mission.

The Society noted that Dr Lawless has been a member since the 1980's when he undertook a fellowship in corneal and refractive surgery in New York. In that period he has served in many roles with the Society, culminating as its President in 2001. He has also published a great many research papers and textbook chapters, as well as having worked in a variety of busy clinical roles. Dr Lawless is shown on the far left of the accompanying photo which celebrates all of the honourees at this year's meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, held in Chicago, USA.

The Society also noted that, in its early days, Dr Lawless brought an international flavour to the ISRS, and since then he has seen it graduate from a fledgling innovative group to take its place as a mature society within mainstream ophthalmology, providing the highest quality source of refractive surgery education worldwide. Dr Lawless said that he was gratified to have played a part in this process.