Dr. Quigley of Johns Hopkins University is 62^nd recipient of esteemed honor awarded annually since 1925.

APRIL 15, 2011, St. Louis, Missouri…Dr. Harry Quigley, a St. Louis native and foremost scholar and clinician on glaucoma, is the 62^nd recipient of the distinguished Leslie Dana Gold Medal, an internationally renowned honor the St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired has awarded since 1925. e St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impair

Dr. Quigley is the Director of Glaucoma and Director of the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

His research work has improved the early diagnosis of glaucoma and he has developed instruments and techniques that help better identify glaucoma damage. He was the first to report long-term success with laser iridotomy and his suturing technique for trabeculectomy has been widely adopted.

Dr. Quigley attended St. Louis Country Day School (now MICDS) and graduated with honors from Harvard University before being elected to Alpha Omega Alpha honors at Johns Hopkins Medical School. He did an ophthalmic residency at Wilmer Eye Institute and a fellowship at Bascom Palmer Institute in Miami. He received the Leslie Dana Fold Medal on April 9 at the Society’s 100^th Anniversary gala dinner themed “Celebrate a Century: EnVision the Future” in St. Louis.

He is a founding member of the American Glaucoma Society and has published 300 peer-reviewed articles, the most cited in ophthalmic literature by his colleagues over the last 30 years (Archives of Ophthalmology, 2007). He was elected chief executive officer of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and also was elected Editor-in-Chief of the most prestigious journal in vision research, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

Dr. Quigley has participated in pioneering studies of the epidemiology of eye disease and glaucoma in American, African, Asian, and Hispanic populations and served as ophthalmologist for the Baltimore Eye Survey, the first population-based study of U.S. eye disease.

The late Mr. Leslie Dana of St. Louis was interested in work for blind people and prevention of blindness.  For the purpose of increasing interest in eye research, prevention and social work related to the problems of blindness, he established a medal fund in 1925 and named the Board of Directors of the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired as trustee with requirements it be awarded in St. Louis.  Mr. Dana mandated that the medal be awarded based on “Long, meritorious service for the conservation of eyesight research and instruction in ophthalmology, social service for control of eye diseases, or special discoveries in the domain of general science or medicine of exceptional importance in conservation of vision.”

The medal is a sculpture of a young child sitting on her mother’s lap, both with outstretched arms.  The medical symbol Caduceus is directly below a half sun image with rays spreading in all directions and the words “Let The Light Remain.”  The logo for the Leslie Dana Medal Award is molded in 10 carat gold.

The Society is a registered 501 C (3) not-for-profit organization; donations to the Society may be tax-deductible. The Society enhances independence, empowers individuals and enriches the lives of people who are blind and visually impaired and their families. It provides older adults who are newly visually impaired or blind due to age-related eye conditions with home-based services, specialized services and community activities. It also renders services to school-age students in Illinois and Missouri. It is the only agency of its kind serving greater St. Louis, and the second oldest of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

For more information about Society activities and sponsorship opportunities, please see the Society website at or call David Ekin at 314.968.9000. Media relations contact: Jeff Dunlap at 314.993.6925.