Club Meeting: 03/20/2024

About Dr. Yvonne Buys

Yvonne M. Buys MD FRCSC
Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences
University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario Canada
Krembil Clinician Investigator, Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario Canada
Past President, Canadian Ophthalmological Society

Dr. Yvonne Buys completed her MD degree, Ophthalmology residency and Glaucoma Fellowship at the University of Toronto. She is a Full Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences where she has trained many ophthalmology residents and over 40 glaucoma fellows from around the globe.

Dr. Buys has been involved in numerous professional organizations including President (2018-20) and Board Member (2010-21) of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS), President of the Toronto Area Glaucoma Society (2001-02) and President of the Canadian Glaucoma Society (2007-09). She is currently on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Glaucoma.

Dr. Buys has been involved in guideline development including the COS evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Glaucoma in the Adult Eye (2009), the COS policy statement on Medical use of Cannabis for Glaucoma (2010 and 2018), a guideline for Interprofessional Collaboration in the Care of Glaucoma Patients and Glaucoma Suspects (2011), Screening for Open-Angle Glaucoma Guideline for Family Physicians (2015), and A Practical Guide to the Pregnant and Breastfeeding Patient with Glaucoma (2020). She has published over 180 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 16 invited editorials and 10 book chapters and has made over 500 presentations at meetings and symposiums globally.

In recognition of Dr. Buys' pioneering work in course development, she received the Toronto Hospital Anderson Award (1998), the University of Toronto Clive Mortimer Postgraduate Teaching Award (1999) and the University of Toronto Colin Woolf Award for Long Term Contributions to CPD (2020). Dr. Buys developed and organized Women in Ophthalmology under the COS from 2012-2018. In 2018 Dr. Buys received the Champion for Change award from Women in Ophthalmology at the World Ophthalmology Congress. From 2014-16 Dr. Buys was on the Planning Committee for Glaucoma Subspecialty Day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and in 2015 received the Achievement Award from the AAO. In 2019 Dr. Buys was accepted to the American Society of Ophthalmologists with her thesis entitled Influence of age, sex, and generation on physician payments and clinical activity in Ontario, Canada: An age-period-cohort analysis. In 2021 Dr. Buys received the Mitzel Award from the Glaucoma Research Society of Canada. In 2022 Dr. Buys received the International Scholar Award from the American Glaucoma Society becoming the first Canadian and first female to ever receive this award.

Early in 2020 Dr Buys was involved in developing several ophthalmology specific national guidance documents related to COVID-19 including Guidelines for Ophthalmic Care during COVID-19 Pandemic, Canadian Glaucoma Society Recommendations for Providing Eye Care to Glaucoma Patients During COVID-19, Ophthalmology Clinic Reopening during COVID-19 Checklist for Canadian Ophthalmologists, a national framework for Adult Ophthalmic Surgery Prioritization during COVID and Immediately Sequential Bilateral Cataract Surgery – Key Points. She also developed, obtained financing, and organized the distribution of 1,200 slit-lamp breath shields for ophthalmologist across Canada.

On July 1, 2020, Dr Buys retired from clinical practice but has continued with her research focusing on sex disparity in medical practice and the ophthalmology surgical backlog resulting from COVID-19. She is also a hobby farmer and bird watcher and has a weekly column entitled Look What Flew through the County published in the Times, Wellington, Ontario.