Evangelos S. Gragoudas, MD, an international authority in retinal diseases and intraocular tumors, was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Health Sciences of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on November 27, 2015, in recognition of his pioneering work in these areas. His early translational work focused on uveal melanoma, for which he developed the use of proton beam irradiation (PBI), and which has been used in over 15,000 patients to date as a safe alternative to enucleation. In collaboration with Joan W. Miller, Evangelos also developed photodynamic therapy with Visudyne®, the first pharmacologic treatment approved by the FDA for treating age-related macular degeneration. He also was among the first to target vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the treatment of AMD, and for his contributions was a co-recipient of the 2014 Champalimaud Vision Award. As part of the award ceremony at Aristotle University, Evangelos gave a lecture entitled, "Irradiation choroidal melanoma with proton beam: the first 40 years." He also spoke the following day at the Intravitreal Pharmaceutical Medicine conference held at the Palace Music Hall of Thessaliniki