Dr. Carol L. Shields awarded the 2009 Robert M. Ellsworth award.
Dr. Carol L. Shields-Associate Director of the Ocular Oncology Service at Wills Eye Hospital, Professor of Ophthalmology at Thomas Jefferson University, and Consultant at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia-is internationally recognized as a leading expert and luminary in ocular oncology, and also as one of the most scholarly physicians of our era in any specialty of medicine. We are delighted to have her with us today to present the 2009 Robert M. Ellsworth lecture.
Dr. Shields was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where the environment of gentle hills and cultural sophistication were well suited to her classical "sound mind and sound body" nature. She enrolled at the University of Notre Dame, and played NCAA basketball for the Fighting Irish, ultimately becoming team captain. She received the Byron Kanaley Award for excellence in academics, athletics, and leadership.
Having been so successful in the Midwest, but responding to the soon-to-prove-irresistible pull homeward, she moved partway back and pursued her medical degree at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating with the highest honors. Upon graduation, she continued into a flexible internship at the Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh. In what would be a transformative experience in every way (for her professionally and personally, for academic ophthalmology, and for patients and physicians seeking expertise in the management of ocular and adnexal tumors), she began her residency at the Wills Eye Hospital in 1984. Her first ophthalmic publication arrived the next year-"Differentiation of adenoma of the iris pigment epithelium from iris cyst and melanoma" (Am J Ophthalmol 1985;100:678-81) and in a very real sense, she has never looked back. Indeed, she has proceeded from that initial case report to publish over 800 original articles in scientific journals, 183 chapters, and 7 textbooks. At professional introductions, it is often charming to comment on the typically irrelevant first articles of the invited expert, but Dr. Shields progression from resident writing up a case report to internationally acclaimed expert is one unbroken, endlessly rising linear trajectory. It is difficult to describe her contributions, because they are so extensive and well known, but she has many rarified attainments such as the diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma, melanoma, metastatic cancer to the eye and adnexa, orbital tumors, complex ophthalmic diagnoses and masquerade syndromes, and many other subjects. Her vast patient population features one of the highest percentages of "quaternary" referrals, i.e., patients referred from other referral experts, in the world. Her expertise in ocular oncology is not only wide but deep; she is quite comfortable discussing genetic testing, diathermy settings, ultrasound distinctions, hydroxyapatite orbital reconstruction-indeed, truly everything important to the field of ocular oncology. Predictably, her C.V. includes many prestigious named lectureships and awards, notably including the Donders Medal for excellence in Ophthalmology presented by the Dutch Ophthalmologic Society in 2003.
Of course, the indispensible part of the life-changing Wills experience was encountering Jerry Shields, whose own unparalleled mastery of, and influence on, ocular oncology can no longer be described in professional terms but is more accurately compared to a transformative force of nature. Their collaboration, and their relationship, grew as she completed fellowships in ocular pathology and ocular oncology at Wills, as well as a period study of orbital and eyelid tumors at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. Together, Carol and Jerry Shields direct all the patient care, research, and teaching activities of the world famous and understandably (and astonishingly) busy Ocular Oncology Service at Wills. One would think that such crushing professional activities would leave little time for outside efforts, but this would be to misunderstand this extraordinary couple completely. They have 7 cherished children-Jerry Francis, Patrick Wilburn, William Robert, Margaret Virginia, John Fendell, Charlotte Nelle, and Mary Rose, and whether bobbing in the surf together at Nantucket Retina, or sharing dinner at their home, they clearly make all the time in the world when it comes to family.
Again, it is our great honor to have Carol L. Shields as the 2009 Robert M. Ellsworth lecturer.