Dr Nathan Congdon received an AB degree from Princeton University and an MPhil from Cambridge, both in Oriental languages and literature. His medical and public health education were received at Johns Hopkins University, where he pursued an ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute. Dr Congdon’s career has focused on public health research as a tool to improve the quality of blindness prevention programs in rural Asia. He has worked at the nexus between academia and program delivery. His research has resulted in the publication of over 100 peer-reviewed articles, and has been supported by the NIH, World Bank, RPB and the governments of China and Hong Kong. Dr Congdon moved with his family to China five years ago, where he is a Professor of Preventive Ophthalmology at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, the largest eye hospital in China. He regularly collaborates on blindness prevention programs in Asia and elsewhere with NGOs including Helen Keller International, ORBIS International and the Fred Hollows Foundation. In addition to providing medical and surgical care to adults and children with glaucoma, a major focus of Dr Congdon’s work has been the training of the next generation of eye doctors in China. He has received the Wilmer Resident Teaching Award, the Outstanding Service Award and Holmes Lecture Award from the APAO, and has recently been awarded a Thousand Man Prize by the Chinese government.