Carl B. Camras, MD: reflections on his contributions to glaucoma research and clinical practice.

Abstract

My husband, Carl B. Camras, MD (chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha), died at age 55 years in 2009. His dying wish was to be remembered for being the first to hypothesize that prostaglandins lower intraocular pressure and had potential as a medication to treat glaucoma. I reviewed the research he performed as an undergraduate at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut), as a medical student at Columbia University (New York, New York), and on the faculty at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (New York, New York), which confirmed his hypothesis and led to the development of latanoprost. This article summarizes his contributions to glaucoma research, his role in the development of latanoprost, and the error of omission that prevented his recognition as its coinventor. Carl is best remembered as an ethical scientist, a gifted clinician, and a beloved teacher, who inspired the medical community and the next generation of ophthalmologists.