Prevent Blindness Holds Successful 9th Annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit

CHICAGO (July 16, 2020)- Prevent Blindness, the US oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, held the 9^th annual Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit as a virtual event on July 15, 2020.  This year’s Summit included a variety of presentations and discussions related to the theme, “An Eye to the Future” with more than 1,000 registered attendees. Peter Holland, CEO, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, served as the keynote speaker for the Summit, sharing the WHO World Report on Vision.

Additional presenters included: 

• S. Perspective of the WHO World Report on Vision
  Victoria M. Sheffield, Vice President, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

• S. Population and Vision Health in 2020 and Beyond

Anne L. Coleman, MD, PhD, Fran & Ray Stark Foundation Professor of Ophthalmology, UCLA Stein Eye Institute

• NEI Strategic Planning: 2020 Vision for the Future

Shefa Gordon, PhD, Associate Director for Science Policy and Legislation, National Eye Institute, NIH

• Future of Vision Treatment and Research
  Sayoko (Sy) E. Moroi, MD, PhD, Chair and Director of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
• Future of Vision Treatment and Research – Flatten Inaccessibility: Adults Share Their Concerns About COVID-19 and Its Impact on Healthcare and Transportation

1. Penny Rosenblum, PhD, Director of Research, American Foundation for the Blind

Copies of presentations and webinar recordings are now available at https://preventblindness.org/2020-focus-on-eye-health-national-summit-presentations/.

Horizon Therapeutics and Novartis served as the Focus on Eye Health National Summit Platinum Sponsors. Gold sponsors were Alcon Vision, Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness, the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, Genentech, International Retinal Research Foundation, Lighthouse Guild, and the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness.

Silver sponsors included Allergan, Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR), American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Retina Specialists, Apellis, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), Bausch + Lomb, BrightFocus Foundation, CooperVision, Foundation Fighting Blindness, International Eye Foundation, Lions Clubs International, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Research to Prevent Blindness, Santen, Seva Foundation, Vision Science Research Center/University of Alabama at Birmingham, Vision 2020 USA, and VisionServe Alliance.

During the event, Prevent Blindness presented the 2020 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health to the Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP) at West Virginia University. The Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health recognizes an individual, team, or organization that has made significant contributions to the advancement of public health related to vision and eye health at the community, state, national, and/or international level.  And, the inaugural Rising Visionary Award was presented to Araba Otoo, third-year optometry student, at The Ohio State University.

“This year has brought tremendous challenges to our world, impacting every part of our lives,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “We know that holding conferences and meetings virtually has suddenly become the new norm and we truly thank everyone who participated in this new version of our event. We also thank our incredibly generous sponsors who made it all possible!”

For more information about the 2020 Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit, please visit www.preventblindness.org/eyesummit or call (800) 331-2020.