BRONX, NY (January 19, 2011) - The Bronx Lions Club honored Montefiore's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences with the Lions Club International Humanitarian Award on December 15, 2010, a recognition of the department's recent efforts to help eradicate blindness in, and for restoring full vision services to, the borough's residents.

Since 2008, Montefiore has added 10 new eye specialists, bringing the department's number of full-time faculty to 29 and the annual volume of patient appointments to over 100,000. Montefiore now has one of the largest ophthalmology departments in the nation. As another sign of growth and community outreach, in January, 2011 the department will open new satellite facilities in the North Bronx and in Scarsdale.

The Bronx Lions Club's treasurer and former president, Marty Grossman, also presented Roy Chuck, MD, PhD, Chairman of Ophthalmology at Montefiore over the past two years, with the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award for his humanitarian activities.

The Bronx club, which has been a financial supporter of Montefiore's Department of Ophthalmology for 50 years, presented the awards during the department's annual holiday party.

Research to Prevent Blindness Awards Department $100,000

Separate from the Lions Club award, but an equally prestigious recognition of the Ophthalmology Department's expanding commitment to clinical care and research, the department was awarded unrestricted institutional grant status by the Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation, the leading non-government funding agency for eye research in the nation. As a result, Einstein-Montefiore will receive an unrestricted $100,000 grant annually from the foundation. In addition, the faculty members are now eligible for significant individual awards.