Charamis & Henkes Medal Winners

The SOE Board are delighted to announce the recipients for the the Charamis medal and the Henkes medal. Both medals will be presented at the SOE 2025 Opening Session on 7th June 2025 in Lisbon.

The Charamis medal is given by the Hellenic Ophthalmological Society every 4 years to a European ophthalmologist for their great achievement in the field of ophthalmic surgery. The Henkes medal is given by the Harold Henkes Foundation for the greatest achievements in the field of Leadership in ophthalmology. To view previous winners of both medals click here and scroll to SOE Awards.

The Charamis Medal will be awarded to Professor Claus Eckardt, who Chief physician of the Eye Clinic in Frankfurt-Hochst and Professor of the University Frankfurt a. Main. He was the organizer of the biannual Frankfurt Retina Meeting with the focus on surgical techniques and issues, attended by vitreoretinal surgeons from all over the world. He is first author of more than 80 scientific papers, mainly on surgical procedures and instruments. In 1997 Prof. Eckardt published the first series of ILM removal for treatment of macular holes. In 2005 he introduced 23 gauge transconjunctival vitrectomy and in 2014 he presented 3-D Heads-up surgery for vitreoretinal surgery.

Professor Claus Eckardt vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv Mr. Wagih Aclimandos

The Henkes medal will be awarded to Mr. Wagih Aclimandos, UK.

Wagih Aclimandos is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at King’s College Hospital, London since 1992. He is the Lead Clinician for Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus services at King’s College, London, UK. He has won many International awards including the International Council of Ophthalmology Golden Apple Medal 2017. The Peter Eustace Medal in 2019 for contribution to Ophthalmology.

He holds many Leadership roles including; Chair EBO Subspecialty Exams – since 2014, President Union Européenne de Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) Ophth– since January 2019. President European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) –  since June 2019. Member of the European Academy of Ophthalmology – Elected September 2016 and Member of the Ethics Bureau/ World Society of Paediatric Ophth & Strabismus since 2016.

For all updates on SOE 2025 go to we look forward to welcoming you to our comprehensive Ophthalmology meeting, delivering a world class scientific programme in Lisbon. For further details go to