Lighting the Way for a New Generation in Children’s Eye Care

John Graether, MD, makes $1 million gift to establish pediatric ophthalmology fellowship.

After a five-decade career as a pioneering ophthalmologist and medical innovator, 94-year-old John Graether, MD, is passing the torch to the next generation by making a $1 million donation to establish an endowment to train pediatric ophthalmologists at UC Irvine.

Graether, a cataract specialist, is best known for developing several commonly used surgical tools, including the Graether collar button iris retractor that inspired a group of narrow-necked tools for smooth and gentle manipulation of the iris and was the first to publish the continuous circular capsulotomy with serial photographs of the technique. His successful lens implant in Iowa’s former Governor Robert D. Ray in 1981 helped to establish the value and safety of a then very controversial operation.

The Irene and John Graether, MD Endowed Vision Fellowship will support ophthalmologists coming to UC Irvine for a yearlong training in pediatric eye surgeries – ranging from treating preemies with detached retinas to teens and adults with strabismus, or crossed eyes. The fellows will be mentored by the pediatric ophthalmology team led by Graether’s protégé, Donny Suh, MD, chief and professor of pediatric ophthalmology and strabismus at the UCI School of Medicine and the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. This distinctive specialty, Suh says, “beautifully intertwines the precision of ophthalmology with the compassion of pediatrics.”

Cherished at any age, eyesight is especially critical in childhood when vision problems can impact all sorts of normal developmental processes, from honing fine motor skills to learning to read and write. The endowment, which provides funding in perpetuity, will enhance UC Irvine’s pediatric ophthalmology fellowship program and help attract some of the most talented eye doctors from around the world to train and treat patients at the UCI Medical Center, the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute and Children’s Hospital or Orange County (CHOC).

“Donny Suh’s dynamism is so well received, he gets people enthusiastic about pediatric ophthalmology, and has the unusual ability to attract the highest quality candidates,” says Graether. “There’s absolutely no doubt that his talent has enlivened the entire specialty.”

Graether has admired Suh’s passion and energy since 2000, when Suh first joined him as a clinician at Iowa’s largest ophthalmology practice, Wolfe Eye Clinic. There, the two shared a passion for both patient care and medical innovation, with Graether mentoring and encouraging the younger doctor. Suh eventually developed ophthalmic tools, including the Suh muscle hook for strabismus surgery, and a patented precision syringe that allows doctors to more easily deliver eye injections to infants. Even after Suh left Iowa to pursue academic medicine, the two physicians and their wives remained good friends.

“Dr. Graether is not just an extraordinary surgeon — he’s a visionary, a problem solver and an inventor who thrives on challenges. His passion for life, his dedication to his patients and his relentless curiosity are qualities I deeply admire,” says Suh. “As one of my most significant mentors, he has been a guiding star, a steadfast friend and an unwavering supporter throughout my career.”

Graether believes the fellowship program will not only develop world-class clinicians, but physicians who follow in both his and Suh’s footsteps by developing innovations that can be widely used in the field to improve vision care. Together, they aim to brighten the future both for ophthalmologists and the children they serve.