The Intra-Ocular Implant Club was founded in 1966 by the English ophthalmic surgeons Sir Harold Ridley and Peter Choyce, to promote research in the field of intraocular lens (IOL) implantation. At that time there was widespread opposition in the ophthalmic surgery profession to the use of IOLs. The founders saw the club as a forum to allow free and unhindered exchange of ideas about IOLs and implantation surgical techniques. From the outset it was international in its membership and it set itself a parental and advisory role for the then nascent national societies to develop in each country for intraocular implant surgeons. However, this global role was only acknowledged in the name change in July 1975, when the Intra-Ocular Implant Club became The International Intra-Ocular Implant Club (IIIC).
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In November 2011, The International Intra-Ocular Implant Club (IIIC) became incorporated as a Private Limited Company under English law.
History and present-day activity
The Intra-Ocular Implant Club (IIIC) was established on 14 July 1966 at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The sixteen founder members were: Mr. John Pike (Rayners), Dr. Murto (USA), Michael J. Roper-Hall (UK), Svyatoslav Fyodorov (USSR), Neil Dallas (UK), Dr. Brown (UK), Dr. Rubinstein (UK), Warren Reese (USA), Dr. Lurie (UK), Jorn Boberg-Ans and Sonja Boberg-Ans (Denmark), Cees Binkhorst (The Netherlands), Peter Choyce (UK), Harold Ridley (UK), Benedetto Strampelli, (Italy) and Edward Epstein (South Africa).
An account of the Club’s early history was made by Michael J. Roper-Hall in his 2007 IIIC Medal Lecture at the Club annual dinner meeting in Stockholm that year.
The Club has two annual meetings. The Spring meeting coincides with the annual meeting of the ASCRS (the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons). The second is in the autumn at the time of the ESCRS (the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons).annual congress meeting. The meeting format is a working-lunch or dinner wherein Club business is discussed then followed by a Medal lecture. There are two awards of medals made each year: the IIIC Medal lecture and the Jan Worst Medal lecture, named after the Dutch surgeon and pioneer in phakic lens surgery Dr Jan Worst of Groningen.
'G. F. Jan Worst Medal'
1999 Jan Worst: "The History of Phakic Intraocular Lenses"
2000 Marvin Kwitko: "IOLs I have used since 1967"
2001 Norman Jaffe: "Intraocular Lenses: A Triumph for what is Right"
2002 Robert Sinskey: "Life begins at 47"
2003 Richard Kratz: "The Changing Paradigm"
2004 Michael Blumenthal: "My Experience in Ophthalmology"
2005 John Shepherd: "Connections and Landmarks: A Historic Prospective"
2006 Thomas Neuhann: "From Black Sheep to Establishment"
2007 Emanuel Rosen: "Photography & Ophthalmology Twin Passions"
2008 Okihiro Nishi: "Comrades-In-Arms In The PCO Battle"
2009 Douglas Koch: "A look back and a glimpse ahead at the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery"
2010 Roberto Zaldivar: "A Family of Ophthalmologists.... A Genetic Disease?!"
2011 Jack T. Holladay
2012 Spencer P. Thornton: "Cataract/Refractive Surgery: Where have we been, where are we going?"
'IIIC Medal'
2000 Eric Arnott
2001 Charles Kelman
2002 Karl Jacobi
2003 Bo Philipson
2004 Kensaku Miyake: "Seeing is Believing"
2005 Stephen Obstbaum
2006 David Apple: "Sir Harold Ridley and his Fight for Sight"
2007 Michael Roper-Hall: "The Right Time And Place: A Short History Of IIIC And Early Implantation"
2008 Richard Lindstrom: "The Other Intraocular Implant: The corneal inlay"
2009 Howard Gimbel: "Farm to Phako - What a Ride!"
2010 Albert Galand: "In the bag, back to the source"
2011 I. Howard Fine: "Conduct Your Own Masterpiece"
2012 Lucio Buratto: "The Evolution of Cataract Surgery Throughout My Life"
Past presidents of IIIC
The Club presidents have included several of the early pioneers in IOL surgery and the present day exponents of small incision cataract and refractive surgery.
1966 – 1972 Harold Ridley (UK)
1972 – 1977 Cornelius "Cees" Binkhorst (The Netherlands)
1977 – 1980 Peter Choyce (was the secretary from 1966–77) (UK)
1980 – 1984 Robert Drews (USA)
1984 – 1988 Karl Jacobi (Germany)
1988 – 1992 Kensaku Miyake (Japan)
1992 – 1996 Stephen Obstbaum (USA)
1996 – 1998 Bo Philipson (Sweden)
1998 – 2000 Douglas Koch (USA)
2000 – 2002 Emanuel Rosen (UK)
2002 – 2004 Richard Lindstrom (USA)
2004 – 2006 Leif Corydon (Denmark)
2006 – 2008 Hiroko Bissen-Miyajima (Japan)
2008 – 2010 I. Howard Fine (USA)
2010 – 2012 Michael C. Knorz (Germany)