Michael T. Trese, MD, Fund

Support those carrying on his legacy. 

In 2026, the Michael T. Trese, MD, Fund at the ASRS Foundation was established with a generous donation from Michael Lai, MD, PhD, FASRS, and Stephanie Lai. 

The fund honors the legacy of Dr. Michael Trese by providing funding to pediatric retina specialists focused on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Support will help advance educational programming, physician training, and domestic and global initiatives focused on ROP and preventing blindness in children worldwide. 

Michael T. Trese, MD, FASRS, (1946-2022) is widely considered the father of modern pediatric vitreoretinal surgery. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he was credited with significant breakthroughs and taught many of today’s leading pediatric retina specialists.

During his lifetime, Dr. Trese shared his extraordinary knowledge, insight, and skills with innumerable colleagues and fellows, and his innovative techniques continue to have had a profound impact on the lives of grateful patients and families around the world.    

Learn more here. 

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The Pediatric Retinal Research Foundation is also honoring Dr. Michael Trese through the creation of a fund that will support the recruitment of a senior scientist and the establishment of a named professorship in his honor at Oakland University’s Eye Research Institute in Rochester, Michigan, where Dr. Trese served as a Clinical Professor of Biomedical Sciences. To learn more, click here.

To make a donation by check, through a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), or by donating a gift of stock, please contact Connie Skingel at connie.skingel@asrs.org / 312-620-7395.

The Foundation of the American Society of Retina Specialists is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Tax ID #:74-2955964

Photo Credit: Kevin Caldwell Photography