Dr. de Smet was born in Canada. He completed his medical training at McGill University and University of British Columba. He then worked for 8 years at the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, MD in the immunology service alongside Robert Nussenblatt, completing his term as Chief of the Clinical Immunology Service. He subsequently completed a 1-year Fellowship in Vitreo-retinal Surgery at the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, MD, before moving to The Netherlands, where, for the next 10 years, he served as Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Amsterdam. Here he initiated a clinical research unit and forged collaborations with outside departments, including the biomedical engineering department of the Technical University in Eindhoven (TU/e), The Netherlands. Dr. de Smet has since moved to a private group practice focused on retina and inflammatory disorders in Lausanne, Switzerland. His research interests include retinal imaging (with Dr. Richard Rosen he pioneered transverse scanning), pharmacology as applied to retinal diseases leading to, for example, the clinical development of Jetrea (ocriplasmin), the use of methotrexate in eyes for the treatment of ocular lymphoma, and the use of steroids for various ocular indications. For the past 10 years, he has worked on the development of a robotic surgical platform for eye surgery along with the bio-engineering group at TU/e leading to Preceyes B.V., a start-up company dedicated to the development of high-precision assistive eye surgery. He is the current Chief Medical Officer of the company. The robotic arm was used for the first time in humans in August 2016 in Oxford, England. The next stage of development will be the incorporation of intelligent instruments to enhance safety, ease of use, and to facilitate the development of new applications. Dr. de Smet has authored or co-authored more than 175 papers, 25 books or book chapters, and given numerous lectures and named lectures. He is Treasurer of the International Uveitis Study Group, a member of the Club Jules Gonin and The Macula Society, and heads a division of the EViCR.net - a European clinical research network.

Financial disclosure: I have/had an affiliation (financial or otherwise) with a commercial organization:
1.    Abbvie
2.    Allergan
3.    Sanofi
4.    Santen