CONICET researcher received the ARVO Gold Fellow

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) gave the ARVO Fellow 2023 awards. On this occasion, Juan Gallo, researcher of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council(CONICET) and director of the Institute of Research in Translational Medicine (IIMT, CONICET-Universidad Austral) was recognized in the Gold category for his career in the discipline. He is the first Latin American specialist to receive this award.

ARVO comprises members from seventy-five countries and is the world’s largest and most respected vision and ophthalmology research organization. Its mission is to promote worldwide research in the knowledge of the visual system to prevent, treat and cure its alterations. It was founded in 1928 by seventy-three ophthalmologists and today it has more than ten thousand members from all over the world.

The ARVO Fellow title is an honor established to recognize ARVO members for their individual leadership achievements and contributions to the association. “ARVO Fellows serve as role models and mentors for individuals who are betting on their career to excel in Vision and Ophthalmology research and help further ARVO’s mission,” the association maintains.

As regards the award, Gallo reflects: “It came naturally from the development of my career. Since the ’90s I have participated in the ARVO Annual Meeting. Besides, I led a research group of young ophthalmologists with whom numerous papers were presented, uninterruptedly for 15 years”.

Previously, the researcher had directed several doctoral theses, published various articles in scientific journals and participated in international patents, and received the ARVO Silver Fellow distinction in 2015. Due to his outstanding contributions in the education of young researchers, he obtained in 2017 the Certificate of Appreciation “Global Research Training Initiative”, awarded by ARVO. “I experienced the importance of working and training young people. Without looking for it, one is enriched by that interaction”, says the scientist.

“I always tried to develop a professional profile as a research clinician. The years that I worked at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, where I received my doctorate, left a mark on me for the rest of my life”, he says. “I never left Ophthalmology, even during the years that I dedicated a large part of my time to start the new medical career at the Universidad Austral”, he concludes.

Currently, Gallo sees approximately one hundred patients per month at the Hospital Universitario Austral, where he is also the Ophthalmo-Diabetes coordinator of the Ophthalmology Service.