Our invention of amniotic membrane contact lens, as described in the film "Sight",
has helped millions!
Ming Wang, Harvard & MIT (MD, magna cum laude); PhD (laser physics, UMD).
drwang@wangvisioninstitute.com
Build Bridges, Break Barriars, Find Common Ground and Solutions!
The Chinese student character in the movie “God’s not dead” was inspired by the life story of Dr. Wang.
In 2013, Dr. Rice Broocks published a book “God’s not dead” which included part of Dr. Wang’s life story.
In 2014, the book inspired by a movie of the same name, and actor Paul Kwo played Dr. Wang’s role in the movie.
Dr. Ming Wang, Harvard & MIT (MD, magna cum laude), PhD (laser physics, University of Maryland) is a world-class cataract and LASIK eye surgeon, philanthropist, and community activist. He is the founding director of the internationally known Wang Vision Institute, Nashville, TN, USA.
As a co-founder of the 501c(3) non-profit organization, the Common Ground Network, Dr. Wang has dedicated his life to helping people find common ground and solutions to problems so they can be more successful and fulfilled in their lives.
Dr. Wang has received numerous awards including the Honor Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Chinese American Physicians, an honorary doctorate degree from Trevecca Nazarene University, NPR’s Philanthropist of the Year Award, and Kiwanis Nashvillian of the Year Award for his lifetime dedication to helping blind orphan children from around the world.
The Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, a 501c(3) non-profit charity founded by Dr. Wang, has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge.
Dr. Wang is the founding president of the Tennessee Chinese Chamber of Commerce, co-founder of the Tennessee Immigrant and Minority Business Group, and the founding president of the Founders Club of the 917 Society that helps educate 8th graders in America about the U.S. Constitution.
Growing up in the 1960s, Ming had to play the Chinese erhu violin and dance in order to avoid being sent away to labor camps for a life of hard labor and poverty, a devastating fate that fell upon 20 million youths in China. He eventually made his way to America with only $50, where against all odds he earned a doctorate degree in laser physics and graduated with an MD (magna cum laude) and the highest honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT.
Dr. Wang’s autobiography, From Darkness to Sight, is an inspirational story of how one man turned fear, poverty, persecution, and prejudice into healing and love for others. It demonstrates how focus, determination, humility, and profound faith can inspire a life that, in turn, impacts the lives of countless others.
The book has inspired a movie called “Sight”. Dr. Wang’s story has also inspired a movie role in the film “God’s Not Dead”.
The story of invention of amniotic membrane contact lens, an innovative technology that has transformed the world and helped restore eyesight in millions!
SIGHT, starring Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Greg Kinnear and Terry Chen (Almost Famous, Falling), is based on the true story of Dr. Ming Wang, a poor Chinese immigrant, who defies all odds to become a world-renowned eye surgeon in the United States. Set in 1970's rural China, a young Ming faces persecution and despair at every turn, but through the support of his dedicated family and his own unwavering determination, he finds his way to America, attends Harvard and MIT and helps develop an innovative technology that restores sight in millions. Taking on the seemingly impossible challenge of helping a blind orphan, the resilient Dr. Wang must reconcile with his own traumatic past and face the harsh reality that the strength of his own will can only go so far.
Donate to the sight foundation and get a signed autobiography
Photos from movie Sight:
Sight’s themes are: There is more to life than what we see!
Dr. Ming Wang, a Harvard & MIT graduate (MD, magna cum laude), is one of the few laser eye surgeons in the world today who hold a doctorate degree in laser physics. He is co-founder of the non-profit Common Ground Network. The film “Sight” is based on Dr. Wang’s autobiography “From Darkness to Sight”, co-starring Greg Kinnear. Dr. Wang’ story has also inspired a role of the Chinese student in the movie “God’s Not Dead”.
As a teenager, Ming fought valiantly to escape China’s Cultural Revolution – during which millions of innocent youth were deported to remote areas to face a life sentence of hard labor and poverty. He came to America with only $50 and earned two doctorate degrees, one in laser physics and one in medicine, and graduated with the highest honors from Harvard Medical School and MIT.
Amniotic membrane contact lens, which Dr. Wang has invented and holds two U.S. patents, has been used by tens of thousands of eye doctors in nearly every nation throughout the world, and millions of patients have had their eyesight restored.
Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration has helped patients from over 40 states in the U.S. and 55 countries, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free-of-charge. Dr. Wang was named the Kiwanis Nashvillian of the Year for his lifelong dedication to help blind orphaned children from around the world.
Dr Wang has 8 inventions and U.S. patents for new biotechnologies:
1. LASERACT: phaco-free all-laser cataract surgery, U.S. patent in filing, 2012.
2. Phacoplasty, U.S. patent filed, 2011.
3. Biochemical contact lens for photoablated corneal tissue, U.S. Patent Serial No 5,932,205 (click here)
4. Biochemical contact lens for injured corneal tissue, U.S. Patent Serial No 6,143,315 (click here).
5. Adaptive infrared retinoscopic device for detecting ocular aberrations, U.S. Utility Patent Application Serial No. 11/642,226
6. Digital eye bank for virtual clinical trials, U.S. Utility Patent Application Serial No. 11/585,522, click here to see a pdf copy.
7. Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy for non-healing corneal ulcer, U.S. patent filed with Vanderbilt University, 1999.
8. A whole-genome method of assaying in vivo DNA-protein interaction and gene-expression regulation, U.S. patent filed with Harvard University, 1993.
Dr. Ming Wang is highly skilled at playing the Chinese violin (erhu), a two-stringed, traditional Chinese musical instrument.
In 1974, Ming learned to play the erhu at age 14. When he finished junior high school as a straight A student, he was looking forward to attending high school and college, but instead, his education was completely terminated and he faced being sent away to labor camps for life, a devastating fate experienced by 20 million youths during 1966-1976. One of the ways to avoid this fate was to learn to play a musical instrument (such as the erhu) and learn to dance, since these skills allowed them to stay in the cities instead of being deported to labor camps.
Dr. Wang’s favorite piece to play on his erhu is “Two Springs Reflect the Moon.” It was written by a blind erhu artist, A-bin. The song depicts a scene in which a person walks out to the bank of a lake at night, and sees the reflection of the moon on two converging springs of water. It is a beautiful and haunting piece, not only due to the natural beauty depicted in the piece, but because the beauty was imagined since the composer could not see. He was envisioning how beautiful it would be if he could actually see it, so the entire song is filled with sadness and unfulfilled longing and hope. At age 14, Ming should have been like any other teenager, looking forward to a life of possibilities, but instead he had to ponder a future where he would be relegated to the bottom of society. Since the erhu was his only hope for avoiding that fate, Ming resonates with the sad feelings of the blind composer when he plays this song because A-bin could not physically see, and Ming could not mentally see any future for himself.
In 1982 at the age of 21, Ming came to America with only $50, a student visa and an English-Chinese dictionary. He worked hard and eventually graduated from Harvard and MIT, and went on to became one of the few laser eye surgeons in the world today who holds a doctorate degree in laser physics.
Dr. Wang has never forgotten the erhu. He still plays the instrument regularly to express his appreciation to America and his love for Chinese art and culture.
