Farhad Hafezi

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Farhad Hafezi gives lectures at the ESCRS conference in Vienna

Farhad Hafezi (born 1967 in Remscheid , Germany ) is a Swiss surgeon and researcher. From 1994 to 2004, Hafezi was known as a leading researcher in the field of retinal degeneration . In 2003 Hafezi began his corneal research, for which he is internationally known today. Early in his research career, he was part of the team that first discovered the gene that is responsible for light-induced retinal degeneration. Hafezi's clinical and experimental research is currently focused on the cell biology of the eye and translational research to improve laser surgery techniques and complication management after refractive laser surgery. Hafezi is an expert in developing and translating corneal crosslinking and its many uses in ophthalmology, especially to treat corneal infections (PACK-CXL).

Hafezi holds professorships at the medical faculties of the University of Geneva (titular professorship), the University of Southern California Los Angeles, USA (Adjunct Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology) and the University of Wenzhou, China (visiting professor)

He has published more than 150 articles in various scientific journals since 1997, including Nature Medicine , Nature Genetics , Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, and Cell Death & Differentiation . His work in the field of corneal crosslinking over the last few years has resulted in a number of international awards. In 2014, Hafezi was voted one of the 100 Most Influential Personalities in Global Ophthalmology by his peers. Hafezi came into contact with corneal crosslinking while working under Seiler T. in 2002 and later.

Early years & research

Hafezi was born in Remscheid, Germany in 1967 and moved to Freiburg im Üechtland , Switzerland in 1981 . He studied medicine at the Universities of Friborg and Bern . From 1993 to 1994 Hafezi took part in a two-year course in experimental medicine and biology at the University of Zurich . Hafezi then worked for three more years at the University Hospital Zurich , where he did research in the retinal cell biology laboratory at the eye clinic.

His work in the Zurich laboratory led to the identification of the first known gene that completely inhibited light-induced retinal degeneration through apoptosis. In April 1997, the related work appeared as an editorial in Nature Medicine .

Following this work, Hafezi then focused on cell degeneration and retinal degeneration. Between 1998 and 2000 two papers were published in professional journals on the subject. The work focused on light-induced cell death and the role of c-Fos . The work has been published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science and Cell Death & Differentiation .

In 2000, research on c-Fos led to the discovery that in mice without functional c-Fos Fra-1 can take over its functions. Fra-1 is part of the Fos family of transcription factors, and related work has been published in Genes & Development. In the same year, Hafezi was part of a research group that was able to prove that RPE65 is essential for light-induced retinal degeneration. This article was published in Nature Genetics .

Hafezi subsequently focused on the light-induced cell death of photoreceptor cells in the retina by means of apoptosis. 2001 this work was published in Cell Death & Differentiation. In the same year, Hafezi and a team of researchers investigated a genetic variant that showed slowed rhodopsin degeneration. This increased the resistance of the retina to light-induced degeneration.

Crosslinking the cornea (CXL)

Since 2002, Hafezi has focused both research and clinical interest on the cornea . His work in this area enabled him to contribute to the successful translation of crosslinking of the cornea (CXL) from research to the clinic and to develop various applications. As an expert in clinical CXL applications, he confirmed the benefits of CXL in ectasia after LASIK and CXL in thin corneas, among others .

The resulting publications strengthened Hafezi's reputation as an international expert in the field of keratoconus , especially in the use of crosslinking to stop keratoconus. Since its introduction in 2002, corneal crosslinking has been the therapy of choice for progressive keratoconus and other ectasias. This has been shown to have reduced the number of corneal transplants by 50%.

In 2005 Hafezi dealt with experimental stem cell therapies, although the clinical relevance of these results has yet to be demonstrated.

Since 2005 Hafezi's clinical focus has been the cornea and complication management after complicated refractive laser surgery. This was the logical addition to his work on the introduction of crosslinking of the cornea in ophthalmology, and in 2012 led to the award of the Innovation Prize of the University Hospital Geneva (HUG).

Hafezi has recently introduced or helped to develop other indications for crosslinking, such as the treatment of children and adolescents with keratoconus (pediatric crosslinking) and the treatment of infections and ulcers of the cornea (PACK-CXL).

Hafezi is a leading expert in the treatment of children and adolescents with keratoconus, where he has helped develop quality standards.

In 2008 he was part of the team that was the first to describe the influence of UV light and riboflavin in the treatment of microorganisms on the cornea. The published manuscript showed that crosslinking can kill both bacteria and fungi with high efficiency. Hafezi is co-inventor of two patents in the area of ​​CXL technologies.

Media presence & awards

Since 2000, Hafezi has won a number of international awards for his contributions to the development of crosslinking technology, including the 2014 Carl Camras Award from ARVO, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the 2014 Casebeer Award from the International Society for Refractive Surgery. In 2013 he was interviewed by EuroTimes regarding crosslinking complications.

In 2014, 2016, and 2018 he was named by his colleagues in the Power100 list of the 100 Most Influential People in Global Ophthalmology, published by The Ophthalmologist magazine. In 2016 and 2018 he was re-elected on the PowerList.

Publications

Hafezi has published more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific articles, reviews and book chapters in his career to date. According to Google Scholar, his h index is 45 and he has been cited more than 7,700 times by his colleagues.

  • Ophthalmology - Linking with Photoactivated Riboflavin (PACK-CXL) for the Treatment of Advanced Infectious Keratitis with Corneal Melting (2014)
  • Ophthalmology - Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking for Ectasia after LASIK and Photorefractive Keratectomy: Long-Term Results (2013)
  • Ophthalmology - Crosslinking for recurrent keratoconus (2012)
  • PLOS ONE Riboflavin / UVA collagen cross-linking-induced changes in normal and keratoconus corneal stroma. (2011)
  • Clinical Science Journal - Transgenic mice with ocular overexpression of an adrenomedullin receptor reflect human acute angle-closure glaucoma (2007)

Awards

  • Appointment as FARVO (Fellow of ARVO) in 2019.
  • Whitney G Sampson Honorary Lecture at the AAO (American Academy of Ophthalmology), San Francisco 2019
  • International El Maghrabi Award, MEACO (Middle Eastern African Council of Ophthalmology), Bahrain 2016
  • Achievement Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology (2015)
  • Casebeer Award, International Society of Refractive Surgery (2014)
  • Gold Medal, Intraocular Implant and Refractive Society of India (2014)
  • Carl Camras Translational Research Award by the ARVO Foundation (2014)
  • 'Best paper of session', 2014 Annual Meeting, American Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgery
  • Global Keratoconus Foundation Keratoconus Award (2009)
  • Best scientific lecture (2007) at the German Society for Intraocular Lenses and Implantology (DGII)
  • Georg Friedrich Götz Prize (2002), highest medical award from the University of Zurich
  • Jules Francois Prize of the Belgian Ophthalmological Society (2000), the highest Belgian award for ophthalmology

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ LM Böhlen, M. de Courten, F. Hafezi, S. Shaw, W. Riesen, P. Weidmann: Insulin sensitivity and atrial natriuretic factor during beta-receptor modulation with celiprolol in normal subjects. In: Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology. Volume 23, Number 6, June 1994, pp. 877-883, PMID 7523778 .
  2. ↑ F. Hafezi, JP Steinbach, A. Marti, K. Munz, ZQ ​​Wang, EF Wagner, A. Aguzzi, CE Remé: The absence of c-fos prevents light-induced apoptotic cell death of photoreceptors in retinal degeneration in vivo. In: Nature medicine. Volume 3, Number 3, March 1997, pp. 346-349, PMID 9055866 .
  3. ^ A. Marti, F. Hafezi, N. Lansel, ME Hegi, A. Wenzel, C. Grimm, G. Niemeyer, CE Remé: Light-induced cell death of retinal photoreceptors in the absence of p53. In: Investigative ophthalmology & visual science. Volume 39, Number 5, April 1998, pp. 846-849, PMID 9538895 .
  4. ↑ F. Hafezi, C. Grimm, A. Wenzel, M. Abegg, M. Yaniv, CE Remé: Retinal photoreceptors are apoptosis-competent in the absence of JunD / AP-1. In: Cell death and differentiation. Volume 6, Number 10, October 1999, pp. 934-936, doi: 10.1038 / sj.cdd.4400574 , PMID 10617374 .
  5. ^ A. Fleischmann, F. Hafezi, C. Elliott, CE Remé, U. Rüther, EF Wagner: Fra-1 replaces c-Fos-dependent functions in mice. In: Genes & development. Volume 14, Number 21, November 2000, pp. 2695-2700, PMID 11069886 , PMC 317035 (free full text).
  6. ↑ C. Grimm, A. Wenzel, F. Hafezi, S. Yu, TM Redmond, CE Remé: Protection of Rpe65-deficient mice identifies rhodopsin as a mediator of light-induced retinal degeneration. In: Nature genetics. Volume 25, Number 1, May 2000, pp. 63-66, doi: 10.1038 / 75614 , PMID 10802658 .
  7. ↑ C. Grimm, A. Wenzel, A. Behrens, F. Hafezi, EF Wagner, CE Remé: AP-1 mediated retinal photoreceptor apoptosis is independent of N-terminal phosphorylation of c-Jun. In: Cell death and differentiation. Volume 8, Number 8, August 2001, pp. 859-867, doi: 10.1038 / sj.cdd.4400871 , PMID 11526439 .
  8. ↑ A. Wenzel, CE Reme, TP Williams, F. Hafezi, C. Grimm: The Rpe65 Leu450Met variation Increases retinal resistance against light-induced degeneration by slowing rhodopsin regeneration. In: The Journal of neuroscience: the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. Volume 21, Number 1, January 2001, pp. 53-58, PMID 11150319 .
  9. ↑ Mackool RJ: crosslinking for iatrogenic keratectasia after LASIK and for keratoconus. IN: Journal Cataract Refract Surg. Volume 34, Number 6, June 2008, p. 879; PMID 18498974 .
  10. ↑ LM Böhlen, M. de Courten, F. Hafezi, S. Shaw, W. Riesen, P. Weidmann: Insulin sensitivity and atrial natriuretic factor during beta-receptor modulation with celiprolol in normal subjects. In: Journal of cardiovascular pharmacology. Volume 23, Number 6, June 1994, pp. 877-883, PMID 7523778 .
  11. ^ GF Sandvik, A. Thorsrud, M. Råen, AE Østern, M. Sæthre, L. Drolsum: Does Corneal Collagen Cross-linking Reduce the Need for Keratoplasties in Patients With Keratoconus? In: Cornea. Volume 34, Number 9, September 2015, pp. 991-995, doi: 10.1097 / ICO.0000000000000460 , PMID 25970434 .
  12. ↑ LM Ittner, H. Wurdak, K. Schwerdtfeger, T. Kunz, F. Ille, P. Leveen, TA Hjalt, U. Suter, S. Karlsson, F. Hafezi, W. Born, L. Sommer: Compound developmental eye disorders following inactivation of TGF beta signaling in neural-crest stem cells. In: Journal of biology. Volume 4, number 3, 2005, p. 11, doi: 10.1186 / jbiol29 , PMID 16403239 , PMC 1414066 (free full text).
  13. ↑ Why prompt CXL treatment vital in keratoconus diagnosis ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Sandvik GF1; Drolsum L .; Thorsrud A; Råen M; Østern AE; Sæthre M. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ophthalmologytimes.modernmedicine.com
  14. ↑ Tracking and treating pediatric keratoconus with crosslinking , March 2013, EyeWorld.
  15. ↑ F. Hafezi, M. Mrafen, HP Iseli, T. Seiler: Collagen crosslinking with ultraviolet-A and hypoosmolar riboflavin solution in thin corneas. In: Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery . Volume 35, Number 4, April 2009, pp. 621-624, doi: 10.1016 / j.jcrs.2008.10.060 , PMID 19304080 .
  16. ↑ Method of applying a composition and pharmaceutical composition with a regimen of administering it, including photo-activating the active component , Hafezi F; M Ray M; Iseli HP; Seiler T (2009), Hafezi, Farhad.
  17. ^ Apparatus for the treatment and / or prevention of corneal diseases , Farhad Hafezi, Olivier Richoz, Google Patents.
  18. ↑ Recipient History ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , ARVO Foundation.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.arvo.org
  19. ↑ 2014 ISRS Award Recipients , ISRS Awards.
  20. ↑ O'hEineachain, Roibeard. CXL Complications - Adherence to treatment protocols maintains safety but there can be surprises . EuroTimes.
  21. ^ The Power List 2014 , The Ophthalmologist.
  22. ^ The Power List 2016 , The Ophthalmologist.
  23. ^ The Power List 2018 , The Ophthalmologist.
  24. ↑ Search results - Items: 1 to 20 of 149. In: PubMed. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, accessed on April 24, 2019 (English, list created after database search for Farhad Hafezi).
  25. ^ The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology- ARVO Fellows. Retrieved April 24, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Hafezi, Farhad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss surgeon and researcher
DATE OF BIRTH 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Remscheid , Germany