The University of Utah Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Chair and John A. 40年前的6月，莫兰眼科中心的首席执行官白手起家，建立了一个世界级的机构，并继续带领它走向大胆的新未来.
Luckily, Randall J Olson, MD, is an optimist.
他在犹他大学的职业生涯始于1979年给当时的外科主任弗兰克·穆迪（Frank Moody）打了一个陌生电话, MD. 奥尔森听说学校眼科部门的唯一一位神经眼科医生要离职了.
Moody told him there wouldn’t be a replacement. Instead, the university was eliminating the ophthalmology program. Olson persisted.
“我说服他让我来面试，然后花了一天时间说服他有机会," Olson recalled. "He said, ‘I’ll give you a shot, but don’t expect any support.’
"It turns out the division was $80,000 in debt. 我的招聘条件是，他们会免除我的债务，并给我一些营运资金——基本上是一笔贷款. That was it."
奥尔森拒绝了哈佛大学的奖学金和加州大学的全职职位, Los Angeles, for the chance to build something new in his hometown of Salt Lake City. And over four decades, he’s grown a one-person program into one of the world’s top vision institutes 在几乎所有眼科专科开展前沿研究并大发娱乐提供全面护理.
Building a World-Class Institution
在很小的时候，奥尔森就很快理解了视觉对一个人的生活的影响. 他在一年级的时候得到了他的第一副眼镜，他有一系列关于在犹他州的雪堆里掉眼镜和寻找眼镜的故事, rivers, and mountains he loves to explore. Following a two-week elective at the end of medical school, Olson knew ophthalmology would be his career. Even before he had officially started his position at the U, Olson recruited retina specialist Mano Swartz, MD, to join him. There was just one hitch.
"I had nothing to promise," said Olson. “大发娱乐商定了薪水，我说我不知道大发娱乐是否一定能付得起. But he accepted on those terms."
Working out of a few exam rooms in the School of Medicine, Olson barely made his budget the first year. 斯沃茨回忆说，那是一段为了实现梦想而努力工作的时光，两人开着一辆1973年的雪佛兰汽车穿越了西部山区, 向其他可能转诊病人的眼科医生介绍自己.
"Great institutions start with taking an opportunity," said Swartz. “大发娱乐有机会，大发娱乐看到了潜力，大发娱乐都不害怕去创造它. 大发娱乐开始得到一些推荐，希望好的结果会自我推销，他们做到了. We started to grow."
随后，莫兰的高级副主席和青光眼和白内障主任也加入了招聘队伍, Alan S. Crandall, MD. 克兰德尔说，从一开始，奥尔森就寻求聘请该领域最优秀的人才来打造莫兰.
"To me, 他是最终的主席，因为他做对眼科最好的事, for Moran," said Crandall.
Olson allowed his physicians to do what they were best at. For example, he supported Crandall in establishing an international outreach program 并在行业组织中担任重要角色，这些组织占用了他的临床护理时间. Perhaps most important, said Crandall, Olson encouraged innovation.
“大发娱乐是最早进行超声乳化术和人工晶体植入（iol）的学术项目之一。, which are now the standard for cataract surgery," said Crandall. “这使大发娱乐比大多数大学早10到15年成为白内障的焦点."
As the age of IOLs dawned, 奥尔森是人工晶状体和白内障手术研究领域的先驱，并在此过程中发明了新的设备.
As Olson hired talented researchers and clinicians as fast as he could, 由于部门的空间限制，协作变得困难. 依靠朋友和捐赠者的大发娱乐，包括大学的长期支持者约翰A. Moran, 奥尔森于1993年开设了第一家莫兰眼科中心大楼，后来又对其进行了改进，建造了今天的中心. Neither project used state or federal funds.
莫兰执行董事韦恩·英布雷西亚大发娱乐奥尔森建立了这两个中心，并与他一起工作了30多年.
“兰迪有一种让人感到舒适和被重视的惊人能力，”英布雷西亚说. “我想说，这是他性格中最可爱的部分，让其他一切都井然有序. It’s kind of the secret sauce."
Olson is a particularly successful leader, said Imbrescia, because he has a strong will to achieve, paired with the humility to focus first and foremost on the institution.
“当你想到他是眼科历史上唯一的主席，以及在他的任期内完成的所有工作时，这是一次相当惊人的冒险。. It’s impressive."
Wayne Imbrescia, Moran executive director
这些都是管理学作家兼研究员吉姆·柯林斯（Jim Collins）所描述的最成功的组织领导者所固有的品质, notes Imbrescia.
"I asked him once, ‘Randy, do you ever have a bad day? 在我认识你的36年里，我从未见过你有过糟糕的一天。. "And he said, ‘I have bad days. I just don’t wear them on my sleeve. I don’t bring it to work. I don’t let it influence the positive beat of the organization and the
positive culture.’ "
这种态度使奥尔森取得了一项显著成就：他被认为是美国学术眼科学部门任职时间最长的主任.
What the Future Holds
当奥尔森想到这家目前拥有500多名员工的机构的未来时, 他考虑的是个性化医疗——根据病人的基因组成大发娱乐提供治疗的能力. 他引用了Moran目前的方法来开发基于基因的治疗老年性黄斑变性（AMD）的方法。.
“随着大发娱乐的发展，我的愿景是扩大大发娱乐的研究范围，并尝试在其他重要疾病中使用相同的总体方法," said Olson. “有些患者长期患有糖尿病，似乎从未患过糖尿病视网膜病变. Why? We have a unique resource for this type of research in the
Utah Population Database [UPD]."
UPD为研究人员大发娱乐提供了2200多万份公共卫生和临床记录, 与家族史有关——研究人员有责任挖掘它, said Olson. He also sees Moran as a leader in embracing new technologies.
"I see us, with our strength in bioengineering, really being leaders in looking at new technology approaches," he said. “大发娱乐希望成为了解远程眼科和应用程序将如何大发娱乐提供越来越多护理的领导者, and we should embrace that and not be afraid of it."
He’s confident the best is yet to come.
A Career of Top Honors
Randall J Olson, MD, 是世界知名的白内障和人工晶状体手术专家，发表300多篇专业论文的研究员. He has received many of the field’s top recognitions, including:
- 2012 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Binkhorst Medal
- 2014 University of Utah Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence
- 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Kelman Award
- 2015 AAO Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2016 International Intra-Ocular Implant Club Jan Worst Medal
- 2019 Governor's Medal for Science and Technology - Academic/Research