Dr. Vernon Hermsen

Following his military service he completed a residency in ophthalmology at Scott and White Hospital in Temple Texas and was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology in 1977.  He completed fellowship training in vitreoretinal surgery and ophthalmic ultrasound at the University of Iowa and then joined the facility as a full time tenure track professor. In 1983 he joined the facility at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston as Chief of the Vitreoretinal Section. He then moved to Texas A&M Medical School in Temple Texas as chief of vitreoretinal surgery and chairman of the Institutional Review Board and Research Committees. He developed extensive basic science eye research studies including, pioneer work on photodynamic therapy and the use of monoclonal antibodies and imunotoxins for the treatment of macular degeneration and eye tumors. He entered private vitreoretinal surgery practice for 15 years and then joined the Veterans Administration as chief of eye care and teleretina for the VA in Waco, Temple, and Austin, in central Texas, Dallas, and Fort Worth in north Texas and San Antonio in south Texas.