Edward S Perkins, MD, PhD (1919–2015): In the vanguard of ophthalmic physician–scientists

Abstract

British-American ophthalmologist Edward Perkins, MD, PhD (1919–2015) held wide-ranging research interests during his career at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London, the University of Iowa, and as a military doctor stationed in Kenya. With his PhD and a medical degree, Perkins was in the vanguard of clinician–scientists who possessed such dual credentials, enabling him to perform noteworthy experimental and clinical research. Perkins’ glaucoma research included early work on acetazolamide and prostaglandins, laser iridotomy, and large-scale glaucoma surveys such as the Bedford Glaucoma Survey. In 1957, Perkins earned a PhD with a thesis on cranial nerve influences on rabbit intraocular pressure. Perkins also invented a handheld applanation tonometer; wrote an entire volume on uveitis for Duke-Elder's system of Ophthalmology; co-founded the Association for Eye Research (the European Association for Vision and Eye Research forerunner); and was a charter member of the Glaucoma Research Society. In 1961, Perkins became the first Professor of Experimental Ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London. In 1979, Perkins and his family emigrated to the United States, where he became a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa. Perkins’ understated personality masked a legacy of extensive contributions to the field of ophthalmology.