Presentation: Greatness Comes from Tiny Footprints

 

Robert Machemer Lecture

Marc D. de Smet, The Netherlands

TBC

 

 

 

 

Short Personal Profile – Marc D. de Smet

Marc D. de Smet is a retinal/uveitis specialist involved in translational research for several decades.  Canadian born and trained, his early career was spent at the NEI, studying ocular inflammation, lymphomas and AIDS related retinal disease.  Methou-exate as a therapeutic option for both tuberculosis and lymphoma were proposed during this period.  While in Amsterdam, he studies transvers, OCT imaging and was pivotal in developing Ocriplasmin as a therapeutic agent.  Recent interests have been in ophthalmic robotic surgery, and the use of the suprachoroidal space as a therapeutic reservoir.  He sees technology as “a mean to an end”: computing power (AI) to plan and assist minimalist, standardized surgery leading to rapid recovery with simplified procedures, amplified with appropriate pharmacology.  This vision is not limited to the retina, which in his view is only the beginning of a new chapter in our use of technology.