From left, Paul Sternberg, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute, Margy Ann Gass, wife of the late J. Donald M. Gass, M.D., Guri Bronner, M.D., who was presented the inaugural J. Donald M. Gass, M.D., Fellowship and Franco Recchia, M.D.
Photo by Dana Johnson
Fellowship honors retinal disease pioneer Gass
Guri Bronner, M.D., was named the first J. Donald M. Gass Fellow at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute. The Gass fellowship was established in memory of the late Gass, a world-renowned retina specialist, and is awarded to a fellow who has performed at a superior level.
“Dr. Bronner possesses the intellectual curiosity, creativity and commitment to patient care for which Dr. Gass was so well known,” said Franco Recchia, M.D., director of the Fellowship Program at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute.
Bronner is completing his second year of a retina vitreous fellowship. He completed his ophthalmic residency at New Jersey Medical School, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and attended the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
“This is a great honor,” said Bronner. “I take it as a responsibility to perform to a higher set of standards. Dr. Gass was a leader in the field and it's very fitting to have a training program named after the top retina specialist.”
A 1957 Vanderbilt University School of Medicine graduate, Gass spent much of his career at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami. In 1995, Gass returned home to Nashville to care for patients and serve as a mentor and teacher to both students and faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology.
Gass authored the groundbreaking book “Stereoscopic Atlas of Macular Diseases: Diagnosis and Treatment,” detailing retinal diseases, which is now commonly referred to as the “Gass Atlas.”
Bronner was recognized during a luncheon given by Paul Sternberg, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Eye Institute and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. Margy Ann Gass and other family members were present at the event.