The Packo Service Award
The American Society of Retina Specialists established the Packo Service Award in 2019 to recognize a member for exceptional service to the Society.
The award is named for its first recipient, Kirk H. Packo, MD, FACS, FASRS, professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Retina Section at Rush University Medical Center.
Dr. Packo’s dynamic leadership and strategic innovations over 30 years helped shape the ASRS into an internationally recognized medical organization that encompasses all things retina.
Dr. Packo, who served as president of the Society from 2001-2002, served as a driving force behind many of the Society’s cornerstone initiatives, including the Preferences and Trends Survey and Film Festival.
2025 Packo Service Award Recipient
Kevin J. Blinder, MD, FASRS, partner at The Retina Institute in St. Louis and professor of clinical ophthalmology and visual sciences at Washington University, is the winner of the 2025 Packo Award in recognition of his exceptional service to the Society. The Packo Award is named in honor of its first recipient, ASRS 2001-2002 President Kirk H. Packo, MD, FACS, FASRS, whose dynamic leadership and strategic innovations helped shape and advance the Society for more than 30 years.
Dr. Blinder, who chairs The Retina Institute’s Retina Research Committee and co-directs its Retina Fellowship Program, joined the ASRS (then The Vitreous Society) in 1992 and has been actively involved for decades. He received the Master Contributor Award from the Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases (JVRD) in 2021 and has served on JVRD’s editorial board since 2022.
His continued ASRS committee involvement runs deep; Dr. Blinder has chaired the Human Research Committee since 2023, is a member of the Education Committee and the OR Access Task Force. He also has been a member of the ASRS Research and Safety in Therapeutics (ReST) Committee, the Preferences and Trends (PAT) Survey Committee, and the Fellowship Directors Section Committee.
Dr. Blinder has served as a mentor in the Early Career Section Mentoring Program, has been a Retina Times Annual Meeting reporter for many years, and has served as an ASRS Film Festival judge since 2012. He has authored 3 Retina Atlas chapters and is actively involved in the Society’s Retina Education and Training for Allied Health Professionals (RETAP) Program.
Beyond his ASRS activities, Dr. Blinder has been an investigator in over 40 clinical trials studying macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, venous occlusive disease, uveitis, and AIDS. He is an editor of the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology and Retinal Cases and Brief Reports, and a reviewer for JAMA Ophthalmology, the British Journal of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmic Surgery and Lasers, the American Journal of Ophthalmology, Retina, Eye, Expert Review of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology Retina, and other publications.
Dr. Blinder has published over 125 articles in ophthalmic peer-reviewed journals, as well as 12 book chapters. He also is a past president of the American Diabetes Association and the St. Louis Ophthalmological Society.
Award Criteria
The Packo Award recognizes an ASRS member who has provided exceptional service to the Society.
Past Recipients
2024 John T. Thompson, MD, FASRS
2023 Timothy G. Murray, MD, MBA, FASRS
2022 Suber S. Huang, MD, MBA, FASRS
2021 Reginald J. Sanders, MD, FASRS
2020 ASRS Founders, Jerald Bovino, MD, FASRS, Roy Levit, MD, FASRS, and Allen Verne, MD, FASRS
2019 Kirk H. Packo, MD, FACS, FASRS