June 26, 2002 — Two videos produced by eye surgeons from the University of Utah’s Moran Eye Center recently received awards from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS). The coveted ASCRS awards are the ophthalmic equivalent of the movie industry’s Oscar awards.

Surgeons Alan S. Crandall, M.D., Nick Mamalis, M.D., and Iqbal “Ike” K . Ahmed, M.D., produced the winning videos with help from Moran Eye Center ophthalmic photographers Doug Blanchard and Elizabeth Snodgrass. The center’s digital editing equipment was purchased through a grant from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.

Crandall and Ahmed were recognized in the Quality Teaching category for their video “Horizontal Versus Vertical Chop: Analysis of Technique.” Mamalis received his ASCRS award in the Intraocular Lenses category for the video “Evaluation of a Light Adjustable Lens in the Rabbit Model.” There were 10 categories in the awards competition.

The three University of Utah faculty members were presented with a statuette resembling an Oscar award at the group’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There were more than 200 videos entered in the competition and each averaged between eight to 10 minutes long, included music and voiceovers by an ophthalmologist, and featured an innovative surgical procedure or way of looking at eye surgery.