Vision Excellence Awards: Lindsey Marvel

Dr. Marvel has spent the past 10 plus years serving some of the most underserved Native American populations across the country delivering high-quality eye care. As a Native optometrist from the Caddo Nation, she knows firsthand the needs of Native communities and applied this expertise as a former Indian Health Service Health Professions Scholar. Dr. Marvel is a catalyst for change in both optometry and tribal eye health, as she drives innovation and impact; she has led tribal eye clinics in the scaling of eye care services to become locally sustainable and also serves as a technical advisor for Seva Foundation, guiding our U.S. based Native eye care programming across six states.

Dr. Marvel is passionate about technology and telehealth solutions that increase access to eye care for some of the most vulnerable communities. As an optometrist, she advocates the utility of telemedicine with other eye providers. She mentors tribal health clinicians as they consider implementing telemedicine modalities for their daily practice. Dr. Marvel actively seeks out new innovations in optometry to remain on the cutting edge and improve care delivery; she currently is piloting a teleoptometry model in an effort to bring affordable care to communities where it is needed most. What makes Dr. Marvel unique is her impact doesn’t stop at care delivery, she continues to raise public awareness of the needs of the most underserved and continually advocates to make these pioneering technologies accessible to everyone. Through Dr. Marvel’s persistence and enthusiasm for sharing knowledge, she indirectly has further impacted many overlooked communities, as she supports additional health care providers in their delivery of accessible care. Dr. Marvel brings a solid public health approach to her efforts to expand eye care services and optimize their quality.