Ming Wang, MD, PhD, is the Director of Wang Vision Cataract and LASIK Center in Nashville, Tennessee, Clinical Associate Professor of the University of Tennessee, and International president of Shanghai Aier Eye Hospital, Shanghai, China. Dr. Wang graduated from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MD, magna cum laude) in Boston, Massachusetts and holds a doctorate degree in laser spectroscopy. He completed his residency at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and his corneal and refractive surgery fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida. He is an editorial board member of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today and Refractive EyeCare. A former panel consultant to the US FDA Ophthalmic Device Panel and a founding director of Vanderbilt Laser Sight Center, Dr. Wang published a paper in the world-renowned journal Nature, as well as 5 ophthalmic textbooks (Corneal Topography in the Wavefront Era; Irregular Astigmatism: Diagnosis and Treatment; Corneal Dystrophy and Degeneration: A Molecular Genetic Approach; Keratoconus and Keratoectasia: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment; and Corneal Topography in the Wavefront Era, Second Edition). Additionally, he has published over 120 papers and book chapters. Dr. Wang holds several US patents for his inventions of new biotechnologies to restore sight, including an amniotic membrane contact lens, an adaptive infrared retinoscopic device for detecting ocular aberrations, a digital eye bank for virtual clinical trials, phaco balloonplasty, and all-laser no-phaco cataract surgery technology. His invention of the amniotic membrane contact lens has resulted in a commercially available product, AmbioDisk amniotic membrane contact lens, which has been used widely by surgeons worldwide. Dr. Wang is one of the investigators in the United States conducting an FDA-regulated clinical trial to treat presbyopia (Refocus) and to treat keratoconus using cross-linking (Avedro). He introduced the femtosecond laser to China, and performed China's first LASIK procedure using this laser in 2005. He also performed the world's first femtosecond laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation (Alphacor), and the first 3D LASIK procedure. Dr. Wang was a recipient of the Honor Award from The American Academy of Ophthalmology and Lifetime Achievement Award from The Association of Chinese American Physicians. Dr. Wang is a founding president of the Tennessee Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and co-owner and international president of Shanghai Aier Eye Hospitals in Shanghai, China, which is the largest private eye hospital group in China today with 50 locations and holds 10% of China's eye care market. Dr. Wang specializes in corneal topography, refractive cataract surgery, keratorefractive surgery, corneal and external diseases, keratoconus, and amniotic membrane contact lens. He runs a busy international referral clinic for post-LASIK and post cataract surgery complications. He founded another 501c(3) nonprofit charity, Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, which has also helped patients from over 40 states in the United States and 55 countries worldwide with all sight restoration surgeries performed free of charge. Dr. Wang is a champion amateur ballroom dancer and a former finalist in the world ballroom dance championships in the open pro-am international 10 dance. He plays the Chinese violin (er-hu) and accompanied country music legend Dolly Parton on her CD Those Were the Days. Dr. Wang organized an annual charity event, a classical ballroom dance-the EyeBall-that is now in its 8th year and has drawn attendees from all over the United States and around the world. Lance J. Kugler, MD, earned his undergraduate degree from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he graduated magna cum laude with a degree in computer science. After graduating from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, he returned to Omaha for residency training in ophthalmology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Kugler then completed a prestigious fellowship in cornea and refractive surgery under the guidance of Ming Wang, MD, PhD, a world renowned ophthalmologist with a PhD in laser physics, in Nashville, Tennessee. Following his year of specialty training, Dr. Kugler returned to private practice and currently serves as president and medical director of Kugler Vision in Omaha, Nebraska where he specializes in refractive and cataract surgery. Dr. Kugler also serves as Assistant Professor and Director of Refractive Surgery for the Truhlsen Eye Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where he directs resident education and research programs to advance the field of refractive surgery. Dr. Kugler has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles and textbook chapters, presented at national meetings, and serves as the principal investigator for 2 FDA clinical trials. He teaches several courses at national meetings and also serves as a peer reviewer for refractive surgery journals. Dr. Kugler has served on the Young Ophthalmologist (YO) info subcommittee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and is a graduate of the prestigious AAO Leadership Development Program. Dr. Kugler lives with his wife Traci and their 5 children.
