Dr. David Apple dies

Sullivan’s Island, SC-David J. Apple, MD, died Aug. 18. He was 69. During his lifetime, Dr. Apple trained more than 200 students and doctors and presented more than 1,400 scientific lectures, 168 scientific posters, and 60 exhibits and videos. He authored 566 scientific publications, including 23 textbooks and 71 chapters in textbooks.

Among the numerous honors recognizing his achievements in the areas of ocular pathology, cataract surgery and IOL implantation, and refractive surgery, Dr. Apple received the Life Achievement Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in 2010 and the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame Award from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) in 2007. He delivered the Charles D. Kelman Innovator's Lecture at the 2002 ASCRS annual meeting and delivered the Binkhorst Medal Lecture at the 1988 AAO annual meeting (the lecture is now given at the ASCRS meeting).

Dr. Apple served on the faculties and held leadership positions at the University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary and the Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine in Chicago, the Storm Eye Institute of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, Tulane University in New Orleans, the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, and several institutions in Germany. In Germany, he was elected to Leopoldina, the German National Academy of Sciences, in 2003. He also was a consultant to CBM, an international nongovernmental organization based in Germany and dedicated to blindness prevention and disability programs in the developing world.

Most recently, Dr. Apple was director of the David J. Apple, MD, Laboratory for Ophthalmic Devices Research in Sullivan’s Island, SC.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, a stepson, a stepdaughter, two stepgrandchildren, a nephew, and two nieces.

Memorials may be made to the ASCRS Foundation Research Fund, 4000 Legato Road, Suite 700, Fairfax, VA 22033.