Howard V. Gimbel FRCSC, AOE, FACS, CABES, (born January 17, 1934) is a Canadian ophthalmologist, university professor, senior editor, and amateur musician.
The son of Jacob and Ruth Gimbel, he grew up along with five siblings on a grain and dairy farm east of Calgary near the small town of Beiseker.
After completing his residency training at White Memorial Medical Center (Los Angeles, California) in 1964, Gimbel returned to Calgary where he set up his Ophthalmology practice.
His excellent surgical outcomes compelled him to share these techniques and others with his colleagues at universities and societies around the world through presentations, videotape distribution, and over 25 live satellite broadcasts at international conferences.
He is also an associate professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Calgary, and director of the Anterior Segment and Refractive Surgery fellowship at the Gimbel Eye Centre.
It consists of making a small circular opening on the anterior surface of the crystalline lens to facilitate subsequent phacoemulsification and cataract removal.
By providing a smooth, continuous surface that resists radial extension, the CCC significantly improved the safety and ease of phacoemulsification, effectively popularizing it.
It consists of fashioning two orthogonal and deep central grooves in the crystalline lens nucleus, followed by mechanical fracturing of the cataract with the phacoemulsification probe and second instrument.
He commutes every two weeks between his private practice at the Gimbel Eye Centre in Calgary and his chairman position at Loma Linda University.