Sharon Freedman, MD was honored with the prestigious Outstanding Educator Award during the annual meeting of the America Glaucoma Society (AGS) on Saturday March 2, 2024. This award recognized her consistent and extraordinary commitment to advancing glaucoma education to residents, fellows, and colleagues including over 30 years of service with Duke Eye Center. Freedman currently serves as tenured Professor of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics, Chief of the Pediatric Ophthalmology Division, and Fellowship Director.
She has published nearly 250 peer-reviewed articles, as well as participating in over 75 group publications from her involvement in multi-center clinical trials, such as the Infant Aphakia Treatment Study (IATS) and the PEDIG Cataract Outcomes Study (PEDIG); she has authored or co-authored over 30 book chapters and co-edited several books. Freedman has delivered numerous lectures nationally and internationally and has led or participated in more than 75 courses at national and international meetings. She was privileged to participate as site PI for several pivotal trials, including the Early Treatment for ROP Study and IATS, and she was a co-investigator on several NIH studies involving gene discovery in primary congenital glaucoma and OCT in premature neonates.
AGS President Leon Herndon, MD, presented Freedman with the award. Herndon trained under Freedman during his time as a resident at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Freedman was "immensely honored and humbled to receive the AGS 2024 Outstanding Educator Award and especially privileged to receive it from one of her star former trainees, Leon Herndon."