MAP award from the Society Ophthalmoligica Montgomery Medal from the Irish Ophthalmological Society Pockington Medal from the Royal Society of Ophthalmology Herbert Edward Kaufman (September 28, 1931) is an American ophthalmologist who discovered idoxuridine, the first clinically useful antiviral agent; co-developed with William Bourne the clinical specular microscope to view the live corneal endothelium, co-developed timolol with Thomas Zimmerman, a new class of medications to treat glaucoma; corneal storage media for eye banks; natamycin, the first commercially available medication to treat fungal infections of the eye; co-developed with Tony Gasset the use of bandage contact lenses; and was involved in the first laser vision photorefractive keratectomy of the eye with Marguarite McDonald.
[1][2] He began his Princeton University education at age 16, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude with a degree in chemistry.
[1][2] He performed his Medical Internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, and following that, he worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate for 2 years.
This agent was subsequently used to effectively treat Herpes Simplex keratitis, the primary cause of corneal blindness in the Western world at that time.
[7] Yale researcher Marvin Sears, observed that timolol, a beta-adrenergic agent, had an intraocular pressure lowering effect in rabbit eyes when used to dissolve lens zonules.
[4][9] With Tony Gasset, Kaufman studied therapeutic soft contact lens (SCL) use to promote corneal healing and reduce pain.
[12] There was resistance to this new procedure but with the support of Edward Maumenee, head of ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, the new protocol was accepted by Eye Banks International.
[4] As eye banks required more time for tissue testing and distribution across the country, Kaufman developed K-Sol corneal storage media in 1986.
K-sol contained chondroitin sulfate, which was a free radical scavenger to extend the usable life of the tissue in eye bank storage for up to 14 days.
[14] Kaufman and Richard Lindstrom, modified the k-sol formulation to make Optisol corneal eye bank storage media in 1992.
This was followed by the same work in a series of blind patients who allowed PRK to be performed despite the absence of a benefit to them to forward this technology, which led to the development of LASIK eye surgery.