|
| Biography |
By Steve Hart Dr. Khouri, a Board Certified Ophthalmologist, was born in Lebanon . After graduating from the American University of Beirut , he entered a three-year residency in diseases and surgery of the eye. Following that he started a Retina Fellowship at the Ophthalmology Department at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. While in Iowa , he was one of the first to use the laser beam for non-invasive eye surgery. An eye operation for glaucoma, usually done in the operating room, was devised by Dr. Khouri to be done with laser in the office (Laser Iridectomy). The work was published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. He also was able to create glaucoma in rabbit eyes with the laser beam.
His main interest was diabetic changes in the eye and the effects of laser on bleeding in the back of the eye. In 1988, Dr. Khouri, literally, "stumbled" on a new compound that was invented by an American University of Beirut alumnus. The drug was tested on hamsters with emphysema at Boston University . The study showed that the lungs treated with the compound had a reduction in inflammation and scarring. Immediately the idea of research on rabbit eyes came back. The lung and the eyes have wet membranes and inflammation and/or scarring can lead to poor vision. A lung scar prevents exchange of oxygen and a cornea scar prevents seeing a clear image.
For the next three years Dr. Khouri had up to thirty rabbits in cages in his backyard. Corneal burns were created under local anesthesia in both eyes. The treated eye cleared in less than two weeks while the control eye developed severe scarring and even perforation. Photographs were taken and when the rabbit was put to sleep, the corneas were dissected and sent to the Eye Lab in Iowa for pathology. Indeed the pathology confirmed that this drug seems to reduce inflammation and reverses scarring in the cornea. The experiments were duplicated in a European university and all the findings were confirmed.
In 1992 a dog with spinal arthritis and secondary paraplegia was treated with weekly injections. In few weeks the dog improved and started walking and running. Many more dogs were treated with daily injections since then. Most walked and ran in less than four weeks of treatment.
Dr. Khouri is still in private practice. He runs the Khouri Diabetes Eye Center in Miami, Florida. |
