Making Female Leadership More than a Moment

The two-year period 2024–2025 marked a pivotal moment for women’s leadership in global ophthalmology. Many ophthalmological societies around the globe saw the election of important female physicians and role models as presidents, leading the ophthalmological community.

Starting in Europe with the ESCRS, Professor Filomena Ribeiro, Head of the Ophthalmology Department at the Hospital da Luz in Lisbon and Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Lisbon, became the third woman to lead the Society after Profs Marie-José Tassignon and Béatrice Cochener-Lamard. From the very beginning, Prof Ribeiro committed herself to more inclusivity, equity, and social awareness within the scientific society and in every aspect of ophthalmology, adding a focus on research and charity projects.

Prof Cochener-Lamard currently serves as president of EuCornea, the European scientific society uniting cornea and ocular surface specialists. Prof Cochener-Lamard is Professor and Chairperson of the Ophthalmology Department at the University Hospital of Brest in France. One of the most renowned experts on anterior segment, refractive surgery, and corneal surgery, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour in 2013.

The European Glaucoma Society has Prof Ingeborg Stalmans at the helm, Head of the Laboratory of Ophthalmology at the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven) and of the Glaucoma Unit of the University Hospitals in Leuven (UZ Leuven), Belgium. The esteemed glaucoma specialist has devoted her career to research.

In the realm of the posterior segment, Anat Loewenstein, Professor of Ophthalmology at Tel Aviv University, Israel, leads as president of EURETINA. Prof Loewenstein is a globally recognised retina specialist and surgeon who advocates for women’s visibility in ophthalmology. She will be succeeded by Prof Nicole Eter of the University of Münster, Germany.

Globally, Dr Jane C Edmond is the outgoing president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) after serving a one-year term. Dr Edmond specialises in paediatric and neuro-ophthalmology and she is chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Dell Medical School, Director of the Mitchel and Shannon Wong Eye Institute, and Vice Dean of Professional Practice, all of the University of Texas, Austin, US. She is the sixth woman ophthalmologist serving as AAO president.

Dr Elizabeth Yeu, renowned anterior segment surgeon and key opinion leader in global ophthalmology, is the immediate past president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS). Dr Yeu is a consultant at Virginia Eye Consultants and Assistant Professor at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, both of Norfolk, Virginia, US, and serves as Medical Director of the CVP Mid-Atlantic Surgery Center.

Rounding out this list is Dr Soosan Jacob, Director and Chief of Dr Agarwal’s Refractive and Cornea Foundation (DARCF), Chennai, India, a regular EuroTimes contributor, and the first to describe CAIRS as a treatment for keratoconus. Dr Jacob has been nominated president-elect of the International Society of Refractive Surgery, succeeding Dr Deepinder K Dhaliwal, another female leader in ophthalmology.