MING WANG M.D., Ph.D.
WORLD-FAMOUS EYE-SURGEON, INVENTOR, PHILANTHROPIST; RESPONSIBLE FOR RESTORING VISION TO MILLIONS
Dr. Wang fought poverty and hardship growing up in China. When he graduated from 9th grade, he was denied the opportunity to further his education and faced deportation to a remote, impoverished area of China and a life of hard labor. Hoping to avoid this fate, he studied dance and the Chinese violin – the erhu – after learning that these skills might allow him to escape the labor camps.
Eventually, Dr. Wang made his way to America with a student visa, an English-Chinese dictionary, $50 in his pocket, and an American dream in his heart.
After college, he earned a medical degree (magna cum laude) from Harvard and MIT’s joint medical school program, and received his PhD in laser physics from the University of Maryland. He is one of the few laser eye surgeons in the world who holds a doctorate in laser physics.
Dr. Wang became a member of the Harvard and the MIT US collegiate champion ballroom dance teams. He feels that ballroom dancing taught him to become a better physician, since to dance well, one must be connected to the needs of one’s partner and to be able to be a member of a team.
Dr. Wang still plays the erhu to express both his appreciation of America and his love for Chinese art and culture. His favorite piece, “Two Springs Reflect the Moon,” was written by a blind erhu artist, A-bin. The haunting music depicts a scene in which a person walks out to the bank of a lake at night, and sees the reflection of the moon on two converging springs of water – a sight A-bin couldn’t see.
Dr. Wang invented the Amniotic Membrane Contact Lens, for which he holds two U.S. patents. He donated these patents to the world. Tens of thousands of eye doctors fromnearly every nation have used these to restore the eyesight of millions of patients. The film “Sight” (currently streamed at angel.com/sight), the first first-generation Chinese American immigrant film in American mainstream media, is based on Dr. Wang’s autobiography “From Darkness to Sight.”
The Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration has performed sight restoration surgeries, free of charge, on patients from over 40 US states and 55 countries. For his lifelong dedication to helping blind, orphaned children from around the world, the Kiwanis club named Dr. Wang “Nashvillian of the Year.”
As a community activist, Dr. Wang is dedicated to helping to find common ground on issues that face our nation. He is the co-founder of the Common Ground Network, the co-founder of the Tennessee Immigrant and Minority Business Group, and the founding director of the Wang Vision Institute.
Contact Dr. Wang at: drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com, www.drmingwang.com
The Amniotic Membrane Contact Lens Story
MING WANG, M.D., Ph.D.
Angel Studios’ award-winning film “Sight” (www.angel.com/sight), is based on my autobiography From Darkness to Sight, and tells the story of invention of amniotic membrane contact lens, a technology that has transformed the world and given vision back to millions.
The film shows my attempts to restore the eyesight of Kajal, a five-year-old Indian orphan whose stepmother intentionally and maliciously blinded her by pouring sulfuric acid into Kajal’s eyes, in the belief that a blind “orphan” singer begging on the streets brings in more money. I ask you, who is truly blind here? Kajal or her stepmother? But I believe in an all-seeing, merciful God, who led the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration to find Kajal and bring her to America.
Kajal’s eyes were severely scarred and she was, in fact, completely blind. I started seeking a way to reduce the scars and restore her eyesight. I remembered that a fetus can heal without scarring, but I didn’t know why. One of the many problems was, how could we do research on a fetus, seeking an answer that would help patients like Kajal, without hurting the fetus itself? Do faith and science have common ground?
Searching for an answer, I prayed to God, asking for help to find a way to do the research while protecting the fetus’ life. The New Testament says that perseverance completes us. With this message always in my thoughts, I kept trying, believing that God would somehow show me the way to do what I needed to do for Kajal, without causing harm.
That perseverance paid off! God showed us the way! We started by doing research on the placenta and the amniotic membrane, thinking that perhaps the reason that a fetus does not scar in a mother’s womb is because of the protection that the membraneoffers. This hypothesis turned out to be correct. And it led me to develop the amniotic membrane contact lens. When I put the AMCL onto Kajal’s eyes, a miracle happened – it reduced the scarring and restored hereyesight.
I asked myself, “Did I really invent the amniotic membrane contact lens?” My answer was “No,” since I did not invent the placenta or the amniotic membrane. As a scientist, I was just privileged that God gave me a rare glimpse into part of God’s magnificent original creation! All of the credit goes to God. Understanding this, I decided to donate the technology to the world. I put the patent online and started teaching about it, pro bono. Over 10,000 eye doctors from many countries now know how to use the technology.
Today, amniotic membrane contact lenses are a $5 billion dollar industry. Eye doctors from nearly every nation use them. The lenses have allowed millions of blind people to see. Even though I did not make any money, I am happy that this technology has transformed so many lives, and that I answered God’s call to share this amazing scientific discovery with the world. With God’s guidance, everything is possible.