Dr. Russell Van Gelder, chair of the University of Washington Department of Ophthalmology, will be visiting the San Juan Islands on Monday, Oct. 27 to talk about “Why People Lose Their Sight and What We Can Do About It.”

He will speak at the Lopez Island Library at 10:30 a.m., the Orcas Senior Services Center at 2 p.m., and at the Mullis Center in Friday Harbor at 6 p.m. There will be plenty of time for questions at all three presentations. Admission is free.

Dr. Van Gelder is a uveitis (ocular information) specialist who has been rated one of the Top Doctors in America. He is internationally recognized for his research on how the retina senses light outside of the visual system – research which has implications for the restoration of sight to blind people and for the treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder. He received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Stanford University and completed his ophthalmology residency and retina and uveitis fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis. For ten years he was on the faculty of Washington University Medical School. He joined the University of Washington in January as the department’s fourth chairman and holds the Boyd K. Bucey Chair in Ophthalmology.