the 7th Annual EyeBall a Sell-Out Success!

Details: Written by Wang Foundation for sight restoration

EyeBall 2011, the 7^th annual ballroom dance show fundraiser of the 501c(3) non-profit charity, Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, was a sell-out success, with over 400 attendees in tuxedos and ball gowns enjoying the exquisite gala on Saturday, October 1^st at the Renaissance Hotel in Nashville, TN.

Helping Restore Sight in the U.S.

and 55 Countries Worldwide

The Wang Foundation was established in 2004 by Ming Wang, MD, PhD. It currently consists of a 33-member board of directors and a 23-member medical council. To date, the foundation has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge. The foundation doctors have published 5 textbooks, and a paper in the world-renowned journal “Nature”, they hold several U.S. patents for inventions of new biotechnologies to restore sight, and they performed the world’s first laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation.

The EyeBall 2011 chair was Mayor Karl Dean, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn was the guest of honor, and Rudy Kalis was the Master of Ceremony. The 7^thannual EyeBall featured a violin performance by Nashville’s Suzuki Players (musicians ranging in age from 7-14 years old), a dance show by Kelsey Bourge and Edward Morales, and a piano performance by Graciella Kowalczyk, winner of the All-Poland Piano Competition. This delightful event was organized by JJ Wang and Ashley Marlow.

The Foundation's Mission
Dr. Ming Wang also spoke about the foundation’s mission, which is to bridge the gap between the high cost of the latest advances in medicine and the low affordability of these treatments by the sickest patients, for whom they are precisely intended. In an effort to help reduce this gap, all foundation doctors donate their surgical services. Mayor Karl Dean discussed the impact that a grass-roots, civilian-organized charity effort like the Wang Foundation can have in caring for the poor; and guest of honor, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, talked about the role such medical charities are playing in reducing the financial burden our nation has in caring for the poor.

Sight Restored After 13 Years of Blindness

EyeBall 2011 attendees viewed the videos of innovative sight restoration surgeries, including one about a man whose sight was restored after 13 years of blindness, and he was able to see his wife for the very first time. Foundation patient, Ms. Linda Williams, gave a moving testimonial about her sad experience with being blind, and then the joy of being able to see again, and finally being on her feet again with the help of the foundation.

Among the EyeBall 2011 guests were foundation board members Shirley Zeitlin, McClinDavis, Tom Lawless, Lynda Evjen, AJ McCall, Charles Grummon, Brian Sconyers, James Looper, and Mark Hilliard; and foundation medical council members Drs. Amy Waymire, Craig McCabe, John Downing, David Shen, Helen Boerman, Jeffrey Carter, Matt Drew, Roy Ferguson, Rob Szeliga and Bob Simon. Other honored guests included Joshua Smith, Brad Morley, Jakie Cook, Carol Waugh, Richard Nelson, Marieta Velikova, Howard Cochran, Phillip Castilo and Dan Zimmerlie.

Merging Music and Medicine

EyeBall 2011 would not have been so memorable had it not been for the impromptu ballroom dance lesson taught by the owners of Danceworld Studio Danny and Charlene Baye, who were able to get nearly everyone on the floor and learn to “put their best foot forward” with their dancing! Dr. Wang also taught several attendees a few creative dance moves, and everyone had a wonderful time learning from the foundation leader himself!

“The EyeBall is a very unique event, merging music and medicine. The breathtaking beauty of classical ballroom dancing reminds us how precious God’s given gift of sight is, and how much we need to help those who have lost that gift,” said the founder, Dr. Ming Wang.

About the foundation founder Dr. Ming Wang: Ming Wang, MD, PhD, is the founder and chairman of Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, a 501c(3) non-profit charity, a Harvard and MIT graduate (MD, magna cum laude) and an internationally renowned LASIK eye surgeon. Dr. Wang performed the world’s first 3D LASIK surgery and the state’s first 3D cataract surgery. Wang Vision Cataract and LASIK center is currently the only center in the state that has the 3D LASIK and 3D cataract surgery technology. Dr. Wang has performed over 55,000 LASIK procedures (including on over 4,000 doctors) and is one of the designated LASIK surgeons for ABC’s national hit reality TV show “Extreme Makeover”. During the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1970s, a teenage Ming played a Chinese musical instrument called the er-hu in an effort to escape being deported to a remote part of the country where he would be condemned to a life of poverty and hard labor, a devastating fate that fell upon 20 million youth in China. Dr. Wang has come a long way from the penniless young man he was when he arrived in the US in 1982, and is now one of the few LASIK surgeons in the world who holds a doctorate degree in laser physics. He published a paper in the world renowned journal Nature, holds several US patents for his inventions of new biotechnologies to restore sight, and performed the world’s first laser-assisted artificial cornea implantation. Dr. Wang is currently one of only three surgeons in the U.S. conducting a U.S. FDA clinical trial research on a breakthrough new eye surgery to treat age-related loss of near vision and performed the first such new eye surgery in the southern United States. He established the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, a 501c(3) charity foundation which has helped blind patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and over 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge. Dr. Wang can be reached at: Ming Wang, MD, PhD, Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, 1801 West End Ave, Ste 1150, Nashville, TN, 37203, 615-321-8881,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , www.wangfoundation.com.