J. FERNANDO AREVALO, MD, FACS, is the Edmund F. and Virginia Ball Professor of Ophthalmology, and the chairman of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, specializing in vitreoretinal diseases. A gifted surgeon, he has performed more than 6,000 retinal detachment operations. He also teaches and conducts clinical research that has led to advances in the treatment of complex retinal detachments, vitreo-retinal complications of refractive surgery, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration (combination therapy and anti-angiogenics).
Dr. Arevalo completed his medical and ophthalmology training in Caracas, Venezuela, his native country, before traveling to Bogota, Colombia, for a two-year Retina and Vitreous fellowship at the Barraquer Institute and the Fundacion Oftalmogica Nacional (University of El Rosario) from 1992-1993. After this intensive training, he traveled to the US for a two-year Retina and Vitreous/Uveitis and Intraocular Inflammation fellowship, under the mentorship of Dr. William Freeman, at the University of California, San Diego, from 1993-1995. The following year, Dr. Arevalo went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for his Ocular Oncology fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital under the mentorship of Drs. Jerry and Carol Shields.
In 1996, Dr. Arevalo returned to Venezuela, where he was appointed to the rank of Chairman of Ophthalmology at the Clinica Oftalmologica Centro Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela, and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Los Andes, Merida, Venezuela. Dr. Arevalo has become recognized as one of the leading ophthalmologists in South America and in 2001 founded the Arevalo-Coutinho Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology. In 2011, he joined the faculty of the Wilmer Eye Institute as chief of the retina division at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH), Wilmer’s affiliate hospital in Saudi Arabia, prior to his appointment as chief of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in 2015.
As a clinical scientist, Dr. Arevalo has produced more than 800 scientific publications (more than 215 on MEDLINE), 11 books, more than 700 scientific paper presentations, and more than 1,000 invited lecture presentations in North America, South America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia that have led to international recognition and awards.
Dr. Arevalo belongs to numerous scientific societies, including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retina Specialists, the Retina Society, the Macula Society, the Club Jules Gonin, the International Uveitis Study Group, the International Society of Ocular Oncology. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and has a seat at the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis. Dr. Arevalo is a former President of the Pan-American Retina and Vitreous Society (2006-2008). Dr. Arevalo is the President-Elect (2015-2017) of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pan-American Ophthalmological Foundation (PAOF).
In 1948 EDMUND F. BALL took the reins of the Ball Corporation, a glass container company founded by his father and uncles. Under his leadership, it went on to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of metal, glass, and plastic packaging for home and commercial use. In addition, in 1949 Mr. Ball founded the Minnetrista Corporation, a wholesaler of aircraft and earth anchors.