New Zealand’s Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer and Dr Ben LaHood have been named in The Ophthalmologist’s 2023 Power List. The annual list celebrates the most influential figures in ophthalmology from all around the world.
For this 10th Power List, 15 internationally renowned judges were tasked with whittling down hundreds of nominees to 100 epitomising the theme of ‘10 Years of Excellence and Impact in Ophthalmology’. A repeat Power List presence, Prof Danesh-Meyer told The Ophthalmologist she hopes future ophthalmologists will challenge established thinking and that the next decade will bring more innovative career pathways to retain and promote talented women.
At 39, Dr Ben La Hood, a consultant at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a lecturer at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, is Australasia’s youngest ophthalmologist to make the list. He said he’d like to see some colleagues’ opinions of refractive surgery continue to change. “It would be great if private insurance companies also acknowledged that laser refractive surgery was not simply cosmetic but a life-changing treatment,” he said.
Professors Stephanie Watson and David Mackey, from the universities of Sydney and Western Australia, respectively, were also named in the top 100, as was Professor Mingguang He, who is affiliated to the Centre for Eye Research Australia. Professor Carol Shields from the Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, US, placed top of this year’s Power List.
