European Vision Awardee 2012

As to Frank Schaeffel’s contribution to the research field of refractive development and myopia there are few who can claim to have made such an influence on this research community over the last 30 years. Frank Schaeffel’s classic paper regarding “ accommodation, refractive error and eye growth in chickens” in 1998 produced a paradigm shift in our understanding of regulation of refractive errors and ocular growth. While this is one of the most cited papers in the area (2nd only to Nobel Laureate Torsten Wiesel, who with Elio Raviola published an important early paper in 1977 on the monkey model of myopia), it is Frank Schaeffel’s continued and numerous contributions to the research field of myopia over the last 25 years, which marks him out for special recognition.

He has made major additional contributions to our understanding of how the eye regulates its growth, both in the physiological aspects of vision and also in the biochemical and molecular pathways in myopia. His expansive knowledge across both traditional biological foundations of the eye and his more recent work on molecular pathways of signals causing or preventing myopia is inspiring to many in the field. It is also important to note that this research has significant public health implications and it is imperative that we gain a better understanding of the etiology of myopia and that we develop new treatments strategies to reduce myopia.

Frank Schaeffels’ research is at the forefront of these efforts. He is a true renaissance man in science in the way he is driven by fundamental questions in vision, not just regarding myopia development, but also in the areas of ocular accommodation, stereopsis and evolution of general visual mechanisms.