Dr Arthur MacCallan, an appreciation by Michael MacCallan, celebrating the centenary (1925-2025) of the Memorial Institute for Ophthalmic Research, Giza

In 1903, Dr Arthur MacCallan (1872–1955) was recruited “to teach the principles of ophthalmic surgery to Egyptian surgeons”. Over the next twenty years, he established the ophthalmic hospital infrastructure, which by 1923 consisted of 23 hospital units with trained medical staff. Unfortunately, ophthalmic research facilities were sadly lacking. To address this, he made it his ambition that, over time, a significant ophthalmic research facility would be established. The initial step was taken when he opened the first laboratory in the ophthalmic hospital at Assiut in 1913. By 1925, he had achieved his goal when the Memorial Ophthalmic Laboratory (now MIOR) was opened at Giza.