Wichard A.J. van Heuven, M.D., professor and chairman of the department of ophthalmology since 1981, stepped down as chair in April to concentrate on patient care and research. He will remain on the faculty as a professor. Carlos Rosende, M.D., associate professor of ophthalmology, was named interim chair while a national search is conducted for a new chairman.
Dr. Rosende, clinical director of the Texas Diabetes Institute and director of the ophthalmology residency program, is interested in diabetic eye disease, cataracts and comprehensive ophthalmology. He received his medical degree from the University of Miami (Fla.) School of Medicine, and completed an ophthalmology residency at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. His undergraduate degree is from the U.S. Naval Academy.
Dr. van Heuven, a retina specialist, will continue his studies of macular degeneration, melanoma of the eye, and retinopathy of prematurity. A native of Utrecht, The Netherlands, and the son of an ophthalmologist, he moved to the U.S. with his family as a teenager. After receiving his medical degree from New York University, he completed an ophthalmology residency at Yale and a fellowship at Harvard. He came to the Health Science Center from Albany Medical College in Albany, N.Y.
