The engine of innovation with a human face – Prof. Ioannis Pallikaris
2020; Medknow; Volume: 68; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4103/ijo.ijo_3287_20
ISSN1998-3689
Autores Tópico(s)History of Medicine Studies
ResumoA life spent on innovation and on the transmission of knowledge to generations of ophthalmologists around the world, Ioannis G. Pallikaris, MD, PhD, is a historic figure in the world of ophthalmology. He is considered as the father of modern refractive surgery thanks to his enormous and pioneering contribution to technological advancement, especially in the development of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK), Epi-LASIK, and ray tracing technology. Born in Chania, a small town in the island of Crete (Greece), Ioannis Pallikaris received his medical degree from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1972 and completed his residency and PhD thesis at the University of Zurich, Switzerland in 1981. His PhD was on irregular astigmatism in patients with keratoconus and the analysis of videokeratography using Placido's disc and first-generation computers. After getting trained in the anterior segment under the mentorship of Prof. Witmer in Zurich. Prof. Pallikaris was later trained as a vitreo-retina surgeon under the mentorship of Prof. Kloeti in the early 1980s. Later, in the late 1980s, he became Director of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Crete and started to focus again on refractive surgery. Within the University of Crete, he founded the Institute of Vision and Optics (IVO), where he still works [Fig. 1]. This is the same historical place, where the world's first LASIK surgery was performed.Figure 1: Professor Pallikaris in the Optics LabMajor Contributions to Ophthalmology Professor Pallikaris's research interests expand in all fields of ophthalmology, including refractive surgery, visual optics, medical lasers, biopolymers, retinal surgery and image analysis, and the design and development of microsurgical instrumentation. His most significant impact is in refractive surgery and the most famous contribution in the form of LASIK. He developed and studied it for the first time in 1989 and the following year he performed the first LASIK on a patient at the University of Crete. Since then, he had a great impact in the field of ophthalmology while, he is considered “the father of LASIK,” the most worldwide acknowledged and used surgical technique in correcting refractive errors, at present. For patients, LASIK became synonymous with refractive surgery similar to XEROX is to photocopy. Another significant invention of Prof Pallikaris is ray tracing technology, to track the optics of the human eye, which he started studying in 1992. Further, The TRACEY device, developed in collaboration with the Kiev Institute of Biomedical Technology (Ukraine) was one of the first commercial instruments for the measurement of the optical aberrations of the human eye and the assessment of retinal image quality. He also developed a rotating brush to remove the epithelium: it is a very practical innovation and many of us use it during the surface ablation procedure. Around 2000, Professor Pallikaris developed Epi-LASIK, a very popular technique of surface ablation for patients with thin corneas. All microkeratome manufacturers quickly adapted to Epi-LASIK and it became one of the preferred choices for surface ablation. He has been involved in other projects outside of optics and refractive surgery, such as a study on ocular rigidity and hydrodynamics and its association with diseases like glaucoma. Prof. Pallikaris has published more than 200 articles in international journals. He holds more than 20 patents related to optics and ophthalmology. Prof. Pallikaris has been awarded more than 15 international prestigious awards for his groundbreaking contribution to refractive surgery, most notably the “Barraquer Award” from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (1997), the “Charles D. Kelman Innovator's Award” from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (2006), and the “Binkhorst Medal” from the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) (2009). He has been the president of Prestigious ESCRS. Humanitarian Contribution Prof Pallikaris and his team is serving in isolated areas, in remote villages of Greece for the last 10 years. He along with his loving wife Mrs. Varvara Terzaki Pallikaris, founded “University of Mountains” – a not-for-profit organization to provide eye care to the people of villages and mountains who do not have access to healthcare [Fig. 2]. With a modern mobile ophthalmology unit with all the latest equipment, the team visits the islands and they have brought help and medical assistance to these needy populations.Figure 2: Professor Pallikaris providing eye care to the children in villages and mountainsA Global Mentor Professor Pallikaris has strongly supported and provided mentorship for fellows from around the world [Fig. 3]. Many of the Professor' fellows have contributed significantly to the scientific community on the global stage. One of the past fellows, Professor George Kymionis MD, PhD (President-Elect – Eu-Cornea) is the chief of the anterior segment department at the world-renowned “Jules Gonin Eye Institute,” University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Professor Pallikaris has been a mentor and father Figure for me personally. He has guided, supported, and mentored me in my professional and personal life since 2011. When I joined as a fellow, Professor introduced me to Greek culture. He invited me to stay with him and his family for a week to celebrate the Greek Easter in a small, beautiful village named Iaomonas. That Easter is a lifetime memory for me. He has a deep love for India and Indian culture, especially as Greece and India share the common thread of ancient culture.Figure 3: Professor Pallikaris with his wife, Mrs. Varvara Terzaki Pallikaris and his fellowsHe has gone beyond his limits to support all his fellows. One such incidence is when he had scheduled a visit India to inaugurate our eye hospital and refractive surgery department (which is dedicated and named after Professor Pallikaris) in Pune in 2015. Only 3 days prior, we learned that his secretary had not applied for a VISA as she assumed it was an “on-arrival VISA.” Professor was in Turkey when he learned about this. He could have easily canceled his visit to India citing the reason. Instead, he canceled all his appointments for the next 2 days in Turkey and spent his precious time coordinating with the Greek Ambassador, made a personal visit to the embassy in Istanbul requesting out-of-turn VISA for India. He finally got the visa just a few hours before boarding time and he made it to Pune to support me on one of the most important days of my life. He personifies a mentor who is a friend, a guide, a guru, a father, and best critic. Professor says to all of us fellows “I don't want to create fellows, I want to create future mentors for the future fellows and innovators for the future patients!” Beyond Ophthalmology Professor Pallikaris loves nature since his childhood. His father used to take him to forest trails for long walks. Professor Pallikaris considers nature as his greatest inspiration for innovation. He says, “I have a kind of talent for physics and engineering, even though I have never studied them, I think it is a divine gift. I easily translate physical phenomena into solutions that I need for ophthalmology. Nature inspires me to think a lot about myself and to look inside myself.” He has many hobbies related to nature; he loves to spend time at the sea, is a sailor, and he founded two sailing clubs in Greece organizing many international sailing events. He loves to paint and is also a sculptor with clay. He is an avid gardener and eats almost only the products that he has grown with his hands, olives and olive oil, wine, vegetables, etc. He is a pet lover and has three horses and two dogs. He is a family man and is always supported by his wonderful wife Mrs Varavara Pallikaris, who herself is a renowned social reformer in Crete. Professor Pallikaris has two wonderful sons and a beautiful daughter, all of whom are closely knit family. About the author Dr Vardhaman Kankariya, MD Dr Kankariya the Director of the Asian Eye Hospital Pune. He is a dual international fellowship trained cornea, cataract and refractive surgeon. He completed ophthalmology residency from the Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, where he was awarded Kanthimathinathan gold medal and K Vasanth Madhavan Endowment award as the best outgoing resident. Dr Vardhaman initially completed cornea training under Professor Srinivas K Rao in Chennai. Further on, he became first Indian to undergo a structured 1-year fellowship in advanced refractive surgery in University of Crete, Greece under Professor Pallikaris. Dr Kankariya completed another Cornea and Refractive Surgery fellowship at the world-renowned Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami. He has delivered over 100 international and national faculty lectures. He has won best paper awards at international meetings including APAO, ASCRS, ESCRS. He has been awarded V K Chitnis Oration, the highest scientific award from Maharashtra Ophthalmological Society, Shiv Prasad Hardia refractive Surgery Award, AIOS, Cornea award IOS, and Asia Pacific Academy Ophthalmology Refractive Award. Dr Kankariya is the section editor for refractive surgery, Indian Journal of Ophthalmology and is a scientific reviewer for 6 international journals. He has 42 publications in international peer reviewed journals and has contributed 7 textbooks chapters. He was bestowed with FAICO (Ref Surg) degree from All India Ophthalmic Society and special gold medal from Indian Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society. He is first Indian ophthalmologist to perform Flexivue corneal inlay. Dr Vardhaman is actively involved in training fellows in advanced cataract and refractive surgery. He was youngest organizing secretary in MOSCON Goa and youngest to serve as the Honourary Secretary of Maharashtra Ophthalmological Society.
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