Daniel Saban, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow with the Schepens Eye Research Institute at Harvard Medical School, delivered the first Howard Lieberman Paper on April 28, 2007, during the Opening General Session of the ASCRS Annual Symposium in San Diego.

Dr. Saban’s paper, Promotion of allograft survival in penetrating keratoplasty: Is there a role for "chimeric" donor buttons? was funded by the ASCRS Foundation and the Fight for Sight Foundation and explores the possibility that composite grafts with third-party epithelium (allodisparate to the graft stroma/endothelium and the recipient) promotes corneal transplant survival in both low- and high-risk recipients.

The annual Lieberman Award provides funding for registration, travel, hotel, and expenses for the recipient to travel to the ASCRS Annual Symposium and present a paper in memory of Howard Lieberman, MD. The award winner is selected by the ASCRS Foundation’s Governing Board from among its ten yearly research grant recipients.

Dr. Lieberman was a founding member of ASCRS and a recognized ophthalmic surgeon practicing in Chicago, IL, until his passing in 2006. He was among the early adopters of phacoemulsification and designed a number of surgical instruments including the Lieberman eye speculum.