# Michael Belkin (ophthalmologist)

Michael Belkin (Hebrew: מיכאל בלקין) is an Israeli academic and researcher working in ophthalmology, Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology at Tel Aviv University. His research brought about advances in glaucoma treatment such as the ExPress glaucoma implant, the Ioptimate CO$_2$ laser glaucoma surgery and a fast, non-contact glaucoma laser treatment.
He established and was the inaugural director of the Tel Aviv University Eye Research Institute, located at the Sheba Medical Center.

## Education

Belkin completed a master's degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge, and a doctorate in medicine from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

## Career

Belkin served as head of the Research, Development and Non-Conventional Warfare Medicine department of the Israel Defence Forces Medical Corps for three years. During that time, he development military goggles to protect the eyes of soldiers.
He also publicized the threat of laser radiation to the eye and endeavoured to develop treatment for laser-induced eye injuries.
Belkin is a Senior Scientific Advisor to the Singapore National Eye Centre. [18] Belkin founded Belkin Laser Ltd. in 2013 and served as the company's Chief Medical Officer. He serves on the board and scientific advisory board of various companies engaged in developing novel ophthalmic technologies.
Belkin has been a voting member of SPIE, the International Society for Optics and Photonics for 11 years, and serves on the organization's Conference Program Committee.

## Developments in ophthalmologic technology

Belkin developed the novel External Automatic Glaucoma Laser (EAGLE), a Direct Selective Trabeculoplasty (DSLT) device to change conventional glaucoma management from a specialized procedure to a procedure which general ophthalmologists can perform. Belkin's company BELKIN Laser Ltd was part of a multidisciplinary, multinational consortium that successfully received EU funding of 2480275 Euros in 2016. Under the project title GLAUrious this consortium aimed to ease commercialization of the EAGLE technology and drive adoption by general ophthalmologists.
Sheba Medical Centre carried out the first-in Human Clinical trials of the EAGLE. Their results found that their automated DSLT is a safe and effective method for reducing intraocular pressure.
GLAUrious began clinical trials in Italy at the University of Genoa and in the UK at Queens University Belfast and Moorfields Eyes Hospital, London in 2018. In 1998, he developed a novel miniature glaucoma shunt, named ex-PRESS. The implant is commonly used in glaucoma surgery. He was involved in developing and clinically proving a method to treat adult amblyopia (lazy eye), an achievement which was previously considered impossible. He also invented methods of automatic measuring visual function in children and binocular treatment of amblyopia.
Belkin is named as inventor or co-inventor on 16 patents registered in the United States and as inventor or applicant on 30 patents globally.

## Research and findings

Belkin identified a correlation between the development of myopia and years of schooling and intelligence in a substantial male population aged 17–19.
He was one of the first to prove that reducing visual acuity in the elderly, mostly due to improperly fitted or non-use of eyeglasses is associated with reduced cognitive functions.
Belkin was part of the team investigating the implantation of pre-treated macrophages into rats stimulated tissue repair. This procedure was later extended to human trials for spinal injury patients and established that humans could tolerate the procedure. He was one of the first to use stem cells in vascular and ophthalmic diseases clinically.
Belkin was part of a team researching the link between cigarette smoking and ocular disease, both through tobacco and exposure to passive smoke.

## Selected publications

* Polat, U.; Ma-Naim, T.; Belkin, M.; Sagi, D. (19 April 2004). "Improving vision in adult amblyopia by perceptual learning". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101 (17): 6692–6697. Bibcode:2004PNAS..101.6692P. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401200101. PMC 404107. PMID 15096608.
* Solberg, Yoram; Rosner, Mordechai; Belkin, Michael (1998). "The Association Between Cigarette Smoking and Ocular Diseases". Survey of Ophthalmology. 42 (6): 535–547. doi:10.1016/s0039-6257(98)00002-2. PMID 9635902.
* Knoller, Nachshon; Auerbach, Gustavo; Fulga, Valentin; Zelig, Gabriel; Attias, Josef; Bakimer, Ronit; Marder, Jonathan B.; Yoles, Eti; Belkin, Michael; Schwartz, Michal; Hadani, Moshe (2005). "Clinical experience using incubated autologous macrophages as a treatment for complete spinal cord injury: Phase I study results". Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. 3 (3): 173–181. doi:10.3171/spi.2005.3.3.0173. PMID 16235699.
* Barkana, Yaniv; Belkin, Michael (2000). "Laser Eye Injuries". Survey of Ophthalmology. 44 (6): 459–478. doi:10.1016/s0039-6257(00)00112-0. PMID 10906379.
* Battler, Alexander; Scheinowitz, Mickey; Bor, Amir; Hasdai, David; Vered, Zvi; Di Segni, Elio; Varda-Bloom, Nira; Nass, Devorah; Engelberg, Santiago; Eldar, Michael; Belkin, Michael; Savion, Naphtali (1993). "Intracoronary injection of basic fibroblast growth factor enhances angiogenesis in infarcted swine myocardium". Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 22 (7): 2001–2006. doi:10.1016/0735-1097(93)90790-8. PMID 7504006.
* Solberg, Y.; Belkin, M. (1997). "The role of excitotoxicity in organophosphorous nerve agents central poisoning". Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 18 (6): 183–185. doi:10.1016/s0165-6147(97)89540-5. PMID 9226993.
* Rosner, M.; Belkin, M. (1 November 1987). "Intelligence, Education, and Myopia in Males". Archives of Ophthalmology. 105 (11): 1508–1511. doi:10.1001/archopht.1987.01060110054030. PMID 3675282.
* Surinchak, John S.; Alago, Maria L.; Bellamy, Ronald F.; Stuck, Bruce E.; Belkin, Michael (1983). "Effects of low-level energy lasers on the healing of full-thickness skin defects". Lasers in Surgery and Medicine. 2 (3): 267–274. doi:10.1002/lsm.1900020310. PMID 6843266. S2CID 33939164.
* Hirschberg, David L.; Yoles, Eti; Belkin, Michael; Schwartz, Michal (1994). "Inflammation after axonal injury has conflicting consequences for recovery of function: Rescue of spared axons is impaired but regeneration is supported". Journal of Neuroimmunology. 50 (1): 9–16. doi:10.1016/0165-5728(94)90209-7. PMID 8300861. S2CID 3810035.
* Assia, Ehud; Rosner, Mordechai; Belkin, Michael; Solomon, Arie; Schwartz, Michal (1989). "Temporal parameters of low energy laser irradiation for optimal delay of post-traumatic degeneration of rat optic nerve". Brain Research. 476 (2): 205–212. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(89)91240-7. PMID 2702463. S2CID 13302840.
* Solberg, Yoram; Alcalay, Menachem; Belkin, Michael (1997). "Ocular injury by mustard gas". Survey of Ophthalmology. 41 (6): 461–466. doi:10.1016/s0039-6257(97)00021-0. PMID 9220568.
* Eitan, S; Solomon, A; Lavie, V; Yoles, E; Hirschberg, D.; Belkin, M; Schwartz, M (17 June 1994). "Recovery of visual response of injured adult rat optic nerves treated with transglutaminase". Science. 264 (5166): 1764–1768. Bibcode:1994Sci...264.1764E. doi:10.1126/science.7911602. PMID 7911602.
* Nelson, Darin A.; Krupsky, Sara; Pollack, Ayala; Aloni, Eyal; Belkin, Michael; Vanzetta, Ivo; Rosner, Mordechai; Grinvald, Amiram (1 January 2005). "Special Report: Noninvasive Multi-Parameter Functional Optical Imaging of the Eye". Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers and Imaging Retina. 36 (1): 57–66. doi:10.3928/15428877-20050101-07. PMID 15688972.
* Schwartz, M; Belkin, M; Yoles, E; Solomon, A (1996). "Potential treatment modalities for glaucomatous neuropathy: neuroprotection and neuroregeneration". Journal of Glaucoma. 5 (6): 427–32. doi:10.1097/00061198-199612000-00012. PMID 8946301. S2CID 32199067.
* Schwartz, M.; Solomon, A.; Lavie, V.; Ben-Bassat, S.; Belkin, M.; Cohen, A. (1991). "Tumor necrosis factor facilitates regeneration of injured central nervous system axons". Brain Research. 545 (1–2): 334–338. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(91)91309-o. PMID 1860055. S2CID 20900035.
* Cohen, Yuval; Belkin, Michael; Yehezkel, Oren; Solomon, Arieh S.; Polat, Uri (2011). "Dependency between light intensity and refractive development under light–dark cycles". Experimental Eye Research. 92 (1): 40–46. doi:10.1016/j.exer.2010.10.012. PMID 21055401.