
Dr. Gerhard Zinser, co-founder and Managing Director of Heidelberg Engineering, is the first non-clinician to be honoured with the Optometric Glaucoma Society’s Founders Award.
The Founders’ Award was presented by Dr. John Flanagan, one of the founders of the Optometric Glaucoma Society, during the society’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Anaheim, CA, on 8 November 2016.
In his laudatory speech, John Flanagan, OD, PhD, (Dean School of Optometry, UC Berkeley, CA) emphasised Dr. Zinser’s significant and long-standing contribution to diagnostic imaging in eye-care with innovative and reliable devices which have turned into household names for eye care specialists worldwide. Dr. Flanagan summarised the achievements of Dr. Zinser and Heidelberg Engineering dating back to the launch of the first diagnostic imaging device geared towards glaucoma diagnostics in 1991, the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT). Dr. Flanagan reminded the audience also of the tremendous impact on eye care of the most current contribution of Heidelberg Engineering, the multimodal Specrtralis imaging platform.
“I am honoured to receive this award and accept it in the name of the whole Heidelberg Engineering team,” said Dr. Gerhard Zinser.
Since the establishing of the Optometric Glaucoma Society, the Founders’ Award has only been awarded to three clinician scientists, all of them glaucoma research luminaries: Dr. Douglas R. Anderson, (Bascom Palmer, Miami, FL) received the honour in 2011, Dr. Robert N. Weinreb, (Shiley Eye Institute, UC San Diego, CA) received the honour in 2012 and Dr. Harry A. Quigley (Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD) in 2015.
Earlier in 2016 the readers of the journal The Ophthalmologist voted for Dr. Gerhard Zinser to be part of its Power List 2016, as one of the top 100 most influential people in the world of ophthalmology for the second consecutive time. According to a nominator quoted by The Ophthalmologist: “He is responsible for several of the major diagnostic imaging innovations in ophthalmology. Further, he is actively involved in cutting-edge research and in sponsoring innovative activities that will translate into major products in the coming decade.”1