Dr. Shady Awwad is a professor of Ophthalmology and the head of the Cornea & Refractive Surgery division at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. He received his medical degree with the US-based Alpha Omega Alpha award, completed an internship in general surgery, and a residency in ophthalmology at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). He then pursued a double fellowship in corneal diseases and surgery and refractive surgery and a fellowship in ophthalmic pathology, all at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He received the American Academy of Ophthalmology achievement award in 2010, and the prestigious George Waring Medal for editorial excellence in 2021 from the Journal of Refractive Surgery, among many other international awards. He is currently the associate editor of the Journal of Refractive Surgery, he serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Ophthalmology, and is the president of the Lebanese Ophthalmological Society. He is a co-founder of the International Keratoconus Society (IKS) and on the steering committee of the International Keratoconus and Cross-Linking (KCXL) meeting, the World Keratoconus Congress, and the EPOMEC congress. He has more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and more than 15 book chapters. He is also the co-founder of NeuralVision, specializing in AI solutions for ophthalmic imaging platforms.