In 2003, Dr. MacRae received the prestigious Lans Award in Refractive Surgery. The Lans Award, given to an outstanding and innovative researcher in the field of refractive surgery, is named after Jan Lans, a Dutch physician who did early work on surgical correction of astigmatism and helped to define the field of refractive surgery. Past winners have included the world's top refractive surgeons, including the doctor who invented the LASIK procedure.