Dr. Lawrence Ira Rand, MD

A board certified ophthalmologist and specialist in diabetic eye care. He has a special interest in Diabetes and other medical retinal diseases and laser surgery of the retina. Dr. Rand received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 from Columbia College in New York, and graduated from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1971. It was there that Dr. Rand developed his interest in diabetic eye disease. He received a fellowship from the Seeing Eye Foundation to do research on diabetic retinopathy. Between 1972 and 1976 Dr. Rand completed a residency program in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Upon completion of his residency, Dr. Rand did a joint fellowship at the Joslin Clinic and the National Eye Institute in Maryland. Dr. Rand's work helped prove that laser surgery was effective in preventing blindness from diabetic retinopathy. He was a principal designer of the national study that proved laser surgery effective in reducing visual loss from diabetic …macular edema. Between 1978-1987, Dr. Rand served as Director of Eye Research at the Joslin Diabetes Center, and consultant and advisor on diabetic retinopathy to the American Diabetes Association, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and National Eye Institute. He has over 70 publications in scientific journals and numerous text book chapters. In 1987 Dr. Rand became Executive Director of the Beetham Eye Institute of the Joslin Eye Institute. He is Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rand was Chairman of the Ophthalmic and Complications Committee of the Diabetes Control and Complications study, the largest study ever done investigating diabetes management, involving over 1400 patients at 29 clinical centers around the country. This study conclusively proved that improving metabolic control of diabetes reduced the risk of diabetic complications including eye, kidney and nerve disease. He lectures nationally and internationally on diabetic eye disease, and consults for the National Institutes of Health, Universities and the Pharmaceutical Industry.