Humanitarian Projects

Current Grants 

Developing Nations Fellowships:

Operation Ethiopia Fellowship – Dr. Mo Harstein

Physician Training
We infuse the Ethiopian medical community with the training they need to provide the level of care we provide to their patients—even when we can't be there. We train Ethiopian eye doctors while we are in Ethiopia, and we also bring doctors to Israel for longer training periods of 3-12 months in subspecialty areas such as pediatric ophthalmology, oculoplastics, and cornea repair.

The first-of-its-kind fellowship training program in Honduras, Oculofacial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship – Supported by Drs. Chris Fleming and Parag Gondi

ACE Global’s Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship Committee along with support from ASOPRS Foundation is excited to bring to fruition a first-of-its-kind fellowship training program in Honduras. This program and the development of subspecialists in the field will serve as a steadily growing resource for the people of Honduras, where there is a demonstrated need for this specialty.

Like many low-income Latin American countries, Honduras faces a significant shortage of oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgery providers, which has a profound impact on the health of its citizens. According to the World Health Organization, there are only 0.2 oculofacial plastic surgeons per 1 million people in Honduras. This limited access to specialized care leads to delayed diagnoses, inadequate treatment, and increased rates of preventable blindness. Additionally, Honduras has one of the highest poverty rates in Latin America, making it difficult for many patients to afford the medical care they desperately need.

The Fellowship in Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a 12-month specialty training program that aims to train postgraduate ophthalmologists to become competent in functional and reconstructive care of the eyelids, lacrimal system, and orbital disorders. The program will strive to provide comprehensive clinical, research, and surgical training through varied exposures to hospitals and mentors in Honduras and the US. The fellows are expected to bring their acquired knowledge and skills back to their native countries and participate in programs to continue caring for patients needing their expertise.

The first-ever Fellow, Nicolle Andrea Ruiz Rodriguez, MD, is dedicated to improving the lives of patients in Honduras. Although born in Colombia, she has called Honduras her home for the past sixteen years. She completed her medical education in Honduras, where she became aware of the country's lack of oculoplastic surgeons. Her long-term goal is to stay in Honduras and use her knowledge and skills to help as many patients as possible. She is grateful for her opportunities and believes proper treatment can help people physically and emotionally. Through her fellowship, Dr. Ruiz Rodriguez hopes to significantly contribute to her academic and medical career and improve the lives of many patients in Honduras.

A New Surgical Technique for Postoperative Trachomatous Trichiasis – Supported by Dr. Shannath Merbs, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Trachoma, the most common infectious cause of blindness, is caused by a bacterial infection. Years of repeated trachoma infection cause the eyelashes to turn inward, which is called trachomatous trichiasis. The eyelashes rub the eye until the cornea becomes white, and the individual becomes blind. More than a million people around the world are at risk, with women affected two to four times more often than men. My research group pioneered a new surgery for individuals who still have trachomatous trichiasis after at least one surgery to correct the eyelash problem. We tested the new surgery in a clinical trial in Ethiopia funded by the National Eye Institute. We found this surgery was more successful than one of the standard procedures, particularly for people with severe repeat trichiasis.

We are planning a clinical trial in Tanzania to test the new procedure against another standard procedure and to see if the new surgery can be taught to the surgical technicians who are trained to perform the standard surgery. The ASOPRS Foundation grant will allow us to teach them the new surgery before the clinical trial starts. Below are some photos I took in October 2021 from the Ethiopian trial of the new surgery.

Past Projects

International Medical Missions

South Africa Training Program
Support for active Fellows in an ASOPRS International Fellowship Program whose purpose is to train oculofacial plastic surgeons to return to their home country to practice and disseminate their knowledge to fellow physicians.

Summary of Grant Awarded to Evan Black, MD and Robert Beaulieu, MD
It is always a pleasure to see the results of grant funding. In 2019, Dr. Black and his fellow, Dr. Beaulieu, were provided a grant to fund the travel of Dr. Beaulieu to Kenya. Please click here to read the post-trip remarks of Dr. Beaulieu, accompanied by unique photos taken during their deliverance of medical care to this third-world country. One of the stipulations attached to the grant was that Dr. Beaulieu report back on the accomplishments and limitations of this mission to show his colleagues and rising oculoplastic physicians his awareness of the need for international service and encourage the involvement of our peers. We know you will enjoy this read.

COVID-19 Support
The ASOPRS Foundation is pleased to report that we participated in #GivingTuesdayNow, a Global Day of Unity and giving. We initiated a campaign to solicit donations from you, our members, so that the Foundation could direct 100% of your contributions and then match every dollar for dollar, up to $5000, to support the emergency COVID-19 responses of Partners In Health and the CDC Foundation. The giving period ended June 1st. We are overwhelmed that we raised $7,950 for this campaign matched it with our $5,000 pledge, and awarded $6,475.00 to each of our partners for a total of $12,950.00:

Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization that supports the most vulnerable and disproportionately affected countries with weak health systems around the world and

The CDC Foundation is an independent nonprofit that mobilizes philanthropic and private-sector resources to support critical health protection work, including funding medical supplies and PPE, increasing lab capacity, deploying emergency staffing to public health agencies, building infrastructure for global response efforts, and boosting clinical research to improve health outcomes.

FUNDING OF THE FOUNDATION COMES SOLELY THROUGH CHARITABLE GIFTS RECEIVED FROM
PHYSICIAN MEMBERS, INDUSTRY, GRATEFUL PATIENTS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.