On 24th October, Chinese Ophthalmology Society general election was held in Beijing. Prof. Ke YAO, ophthalmologist and Director of SAHZU Eye Center was appointed as the Chairman of the 12th Chinese Ophthalmology Society. Prof. YAO is the first Zhejiang ophthalmologist to take this position since Chinese Ophthalmology Society was established nearly 80 years ago. It indicates Prof Yao has become a leading figure in ophthalmology and gained honor for all Zhejiang ophthalmologists. Meanwhile, Prof. Juan YE, the Vice Director of SAHZU Eye Center, was elected as a new member of the committee.

Professor Yao earned his Medical Degree with honors at Shanghai Second Medical University in 1988. Then he finished his two-year fellowship at the University Eye Hospital in Basel, Switzerland. He was invited to the United States as visiting scholar twice for a total of six months. He was appointed professor of ophthalmology in 1991 and served as the Chief of the Eye Institute of Zhejiang University and ZJU Eye Center since 1997.

Prof. Yao has a special interest in anterior segment eye diseases including cataract and glaucoma. He is a surgical innovator and strives to optimally customize the treatment for an individual patient. He is one of the first surgeons to perform cataract phacoemulsification nationwide, and contributes to the improvement of phacoemulsification techniques as well as combined viscocanalostomy. Prof. Yao has received regional, national, and international referrals. At the same time, he is dedicated to teaching residents, fellows and medical students, and involved in training hundreds of cataract surgeons from 33 provinces throughout China. He has been an invited speaker to over thousand meetings regionally, nationally, and internationally, and interviewed for international newspapers and CCTV programs.

Prof. Yao and his team have achieved over 30 national and provincial grants for their work on age-related cataract, microwave radiation-induced lens damage, congenital cataract and advanced IOL design. He has published 330 clinical and scientific papers with 135 published in peer-reviewed international journals and obtained 10 national patents. He is also the editor-in-chief of the textbooks “Surgeries in Complicated Cases of Cataract” and “Micro and Small Incision Cataract Surgery”. Prof. Yao is committed and enthusiastic about public service. He is the founder of the “MobileEyeHospital” which outreaches the rural areas in China including Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Qinhai, Xinjiang, Gansu, Guizhou, and provides free cataract surgeries for poor patients. Up to date, it benefits more than 5,000 patients.

Prof. Yao is named the President of Chinese Ophthalmological Society, Vice President of Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) and President of the Chinese Cataract Society. He has received a number of awards in recognition of his work. In 1990, he won the Alfred-Vogt Award in Switzerland and National Award of Science and Technology Progress in China, which is the highest honor in science and technology. In 2007, he was awarded the National Award of Science and Technology Progress again. So far, he has been awarded the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (APACRS) Gold Award, APACRS Certified Educator (A.C.E) Award, US-Sino Ophthalmology Golden Key Award and US-Sino Ophthalmology Golden Apple Award. Recently, Prof. Yao was awarded the Chinese Physician Prize, which is the highest award of Ministry of Health approved Chinese Medical Doctor Association.