Tj Bascom Palmer Institute

TJ BASCOM PALMER EYE INSTITUTE HEALTH UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HOSPITAL AND CLINICS www.bascompalmer.org Eduardo C. Alfonso, M.D. Director, Bascom Palmer Eye lnstitute Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology Kathleen and Stanley J. Glaser Professor of ophthalmology Phone: 305-326-6303 Fax: 305-325-6308 Email: ealfonso@med.miami.edu P.O. Box 016880, Miami, FL 33101-5880 October 18, 2019 American Ophthalmological Society Dear Colleagues: is a real honor for me to write a letter supporting the nomination of Dr. Elena Barraquer to become a member of the American Ophthalmological Society. I believe that she is very It deserving of membership as well, the society will benefit tremendously from her input. Dr. Barraquer is an outstanding clinician. She came to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as a comea fellow in 1987-89. She then moved to ltaly for personal reasons where shejoined her husband in a private clinic. In 2002, she returned to her hometown, Barcelona, and started working at the family Institute, the Centro de Oftalmologia Barraquer (COB), as anterior segment surgeon and clinical director. Her main areas ofclinical and scientific interests are cataract and intraocular refractive surgeryShe dedicates one afternoon a week to teach cataract surgery to the residents attending the COB's residency program. Since 2004, Dr. Barraquer spends a significant amount ofher time (6-8 weeks/year) traveling to underdeveloped countries, mainly in Africa, where she performs cataract extractions to needed people. Her dedication to this task has led her to create the Fundaci6n Elena Barraquer, a nonprofit organization whose goal is the eradication of reversible blindness due to cataracts. Dr. Barraquer's altruist work has been recognized throughout the years: Most recently, she received the Sophia award fiom the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute in New York. As we often say, the fruit does not fall far from the tree. Dr. Elena Barraquer's father, Dr. Joaquin Barraquer and her grandfather, Dr. Ignacio Barraquer had a special program within their Institute for treating patients without economical means to pay for their care. Elenajust broaden the scope to reach people in the neediest areas ofthe world. I strongly support the application of Dr. Barraquer for membership at the American Ophthalmological Society. The society will greatly benefit from her participation. ofany further assistance, do not hesitate in getting in touch with me. If I can be S ly yours, Eduard lfonso. M.D tjHealth l.,;m;,rum' Io MEDICINE Bascom P.lmer Eye lnstitute lAnne 8ate5 Leadt -;:-- Eye Crnter . 9OO Nw lTth Street . Miami, FL 33135'Phone: 305-326-5000 Evelyn F. & William L itdhight Vision R 3eardr Center . '1638 NW lOth Avenue . Miami, FL 33'135 ' Phone: 305-326'6031 Bascom ?almer Eye lnstitrte at Palm Beadr Gardeni . TlOl Fairway Orive . Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 ' Phone: 551-515-1500 Bas om Palmer Eye hrstitrte at t{aplcr . 3880 Tamiami Trail North . Naple,, FL 34103 . Phone: 239-659-f937 Ba5(om Palmcr Eye lnititute at Plantation . 8100 5W 1fth Street. Suite 3000 . Ptantation, FL 33324' Phone: 954-455-2700 . pahrr Eye lrEtitute at Coral Gabhs I Leonal Foundatioo M dkal Gnte. . 5555 Ponce de Leon Blvd- Coral 6able5, FL 33145 ' Phone: 30ffi9-2020 Bas(om

THE WILMER OPHTHALMOLOGICAL INSTITUTE THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL Oliver D. Schein, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. Burton E. Grossman Professor of Ophthalmology Vice Chair for Quality and Safety Cornea and Anterior Segment Service Patient Appointments: 410-955-5080 Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology 116 Wilmer Building, 600 N. Wolfe Street Baltimore, MD 21287-9019 EMAIL: oschein@jhmi.edu PHONE: 410-955-8179 FAX: 410-614-9651 April 29, 2019 Executive Vice-President American Ophthalmological Society Re: Seconding letter for Dr. Elena Barraquer Dear Colleague, It is my pleasure to write this letter on behalf of Dr. Elena Barraquer. I first met Elena in 1984, when we both arrived at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) as first year eye residents. Over the following 35 years she has been a steadfast friend and colleague. I can vouch entirely for her character, integrity and ethical standards. In addition she brings a level of warmth and enthusiasm to patients and peers alike that is remarkable. Her ophthalmic training in the United States included the NEI, Wilmer, MEEI and Bascom Palmer. She not only performed at a high level at these institutions where she earned the respect of her colleagues, but she developed numerous professional friendships which she has helped to nourish over the decades. Clinically, her expertise is in cataract and corneal disease. She has a busy referral practice in those areas at the Instituto Barraquer, a major center for teaching and clinical care in Barcelona, founded by her great-great grandfather. Elena has substantial administrative experience, serving for approximately the past 15 years as the Assistant Medical Director of the Institute. Although Elena has a strong publication history, primarily related to corneal pathology, it is her philanthropic work which most distinguishes her career, in my opinion. As the director of two Barraquer Foundations, she has organized, raised funding for and personally participated in numerous efforts to provide quality cataract surgery to many needy locations, particularly in Africa. She has been recognized for this work with multiple awards in Spain, South America, and elsewhere in Europe. The AOS would be enhanced by Elena’s membership. She is accomplished,

tireless, generous, and a true pleasure socially as well. Yours sincerely, Oliver Schein

Currículum Vitae ELENA BARRAQUER COMPTE Dr. Elena Barraquer Compte was born in Barcelona on May 30th 1954. She is the oldest daughter of Professor Joaquín Barraquer, and with her younger brother Rafael, belongs to the fourth generation of the Barraquer ophthalmologist’s saga. Dra. Elena Barraquer graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 1977. When she completed her practical training at the Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, she applied for and was granted a Research Scholarship at the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. She worked there from 1978 to 1980 on retinal pigment epithelium cell cultures and their application to different pathologies. This experience allowed her to expand her curriculum as a Fellow in Ocular Pathology, 1980-1982, at the Wilmer Eye Institute of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore. In January 1983 she passed the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates ECFMG examination which allowed her to continue her medical training in the USA. She worked as an Intern in Medicine at the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, 19831984 and then completed her residency in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School in Boston, 1984-1987. After her residence training, she became a Cornea Fellow at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, where she worked from 1987 to 1989. There she participated actively in the research to develop the Excimer laser, which is currently used in refractive surgery for myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. From 1989 until 2002 she practiced as Chief Ophthalmologist-Surgeon at the Studio Medico Associato Barraquer Bosio in Turin (Italy), where she enhanced her practical knowledge and achieved a high professional prestige.

Since arriving in Barcelona in 2002, she has been Assistant Medical Director of the Centro de Oftalmología Barraquer and has coordinated patient care and management of the center along with her brother, Dr. Rafael I. Barraquer, and under the supervision of Professor Joaquín Barraquer. Her clinical practice includes the Anterior Segment of the eye, specialising in clinical ophthalmology of cornea, lens and ocular surface. It is outstanding her work as cataract surgeon. She was one of the pioneering doctors in Spain to use posterior chamber intraocular lenses and to perform extracapsular cataract extraction. This technique substituted intracapsular surgery, which had been predominant until the 80’s, and had been developed by her grandfather, Professor Ignacio Barraquer and later on, improved by her father, Professor Joaquín Barraquer. In 2004 she promoted the first humanitarian eye care expedition of the Fundació Barraquer: Together with Fundació SOS Dia Universal de la Infància she leaded a mission to Senegal (Africa) to examine hundreds of children in Cassamance, establishing the basis for further expeditions which would include surgical procedures. Since then, she has been travelling to Africa several times a year, performing cataract extractions on people in need. The Elena Barraquer Foundation These trips were the beginning of what would end up being the Elena Barraquer Foundation, a non-profit organization created in June 2017 to continue with the free cataract camps and become a platform for other ophthalmologists to have at their disposal the necessary tools to fight against avoidable blindness. Elena Barraquer Foundation is undoubtedly the most ambitious project of Elena Barraquer, since it is a unique and pioneering initiative in our country, the direct result of that passionate and enterprising spirit that characterizes Elena and that spreads to her team conferring a social dimension to the medical projects. For its implementation, Elena Barraquer has had the support of companies and individuals who have been infected by her spirit of solidarity. A declaration of intentions that sustains and encourages year after year the medical expeditions led by Elena Barraquer and with which we manage to restore sight and improve the quality of life of a large number of people

Awards and recognitions La Clau de Barcelona. Club d Amics Clau de Barcelona. 2009 Silver Medal to the Merit of Barcelona. City Council. Urban Guard. 2011 Honorary Degree. ESERP (Barcelona School of Business and Social Sciences). 2012 Police Cross of Merit. 2012 Barcelona 2012 Medal of Honour. Barcelona City Council. Traveler Award. Traveler of the year 2013. Editorial Conde Nast. Alegría de Vivir Award. 2013 Paul Harris-Rotary Club Award. 2013 Commissioned by Isabel the Catholic. 2014 Bridges of the World International Awards, Social Ambassador. 2014 Confradia Gastronòmica del Cargol. Member Confrare. 2014 One of the Top 100 Women Leaders in Spain in the Third Sector category. 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (honorary) Vogue Award. Jewel character. 2015 FIDEM Award. Donna Emprendedora. 2015 In Positive Award, leader of social change. 2015 Recognition by the Ministry of Public Health of the Dominican Republic. 2015 European Citizen Prize. 2015. Dastgheib Pioneer Award in Ocular Innovation. Duke University. 2016 Gold Medal of the Red Cross. 2017 CODESPA Award to Solidary SME. 2017 Sophia Award of Excellence 2018 Company El Mundo ZEN Solidaria 2018

Bascom ?almer Eye lnstitrte at Palm Beadr Gardeni . TlOl Fairway Orive . Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 ' Phone: 551-515-1500 Bas om Palmer Eye hrstitrte at t{aplcr . 3880 Tamiami Trail North . Naple,, FL 34103 . Phone: 239-659-f937 Ba5(om Palmcr Eye lnititute at Plantation . 8100 5W 1fth Street. Suite 3000 . Ptantation, FL 33324' Phone: 954-455-2700