Jim McGrann | Susan A. Primo | Susan L. Stone
(PRESS RELEASE) CHICAGO, IL — Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety nonprofit organization, has announced that Jim McGrann, CEO of Professional Eyecare Associates of America (PECAA), has been appointed chair of the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors. PECAA was recently acquired by VSP Vision. Susan A. Primo, OD, MPH, FAAO, director, Optometry and Vision Rehabilitation Services, Emory Eye Center, and professor of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, and Susan L. Stone, founder of SLStone Consulting, LLC, have been elected as members of Prevent Blindness Board of Directors. The vote was held on Nov. 4, at the 2022 Prevent Blindness Annual Board Meeting in Chicago.
Stephanie Marioneaux, MD, cornea and external disease specialist, was elected as Board Secretary, and Cadmus Rich, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development at Aura Biosciences, was re-elected as Board Treasurer. Marcus Molea, long-time Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate volunteer, retired from the Ohio Department of Aging, was named the Chief Volunteer Officer liaison to the Board.
Jim McGrann was named the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors Chair-elect in 2021 and takes over duties from Board of Directors Chair, Dr. M. Kathleen Murphy, Associate Dean, Inclusivity, Global Health & Community Engagement, University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing, at the completion of her term.
Mr. McGrann has decades of executive experience in the vision and optical industry. At PECAA, McGrann manages business strategy development, customer experience management, and information technology strategy development. He was previously the President & CEO of VSP Global, the former President of VSP Vision, and CIO of Marchon Eyewear. He has a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Columbia University.
McGrann has served on various Prevent Blindness event committees over the years, including co-chairing the 2021 Person of Vision Award committee, honoring Marc Ferrara of Jobson Medical Information.
In addition to her public health work, Dr. Susan Primo specializes in vision rehabilitation to assist patients who become visually impaired through the evaluation and prescription of low vision devices. Her research interests are in strategic public health approaches to address visual impairment and loss (especially due to glaucoma) and to reduce racial disparities in vision healthcare. She is a known expert in low vision/vision rehabilitation research as well as visual health disparities.
Dr. Primo is involved in multiple global ophthalmology projects including Georgia Vision 2020 and Standing Voice service visits to Tanzania. Additionally, she is a member of National Eye Health and Education Planning Group from the National Eye Institute, and she is the Co-chair of the Center for Vision and Population Health at Prevent Blindness Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Prevent Blindness Vision Health Equity Committee, and on the Advisory Council to the Living Well with Low Vision Resource. She has also served on the Prevent Blindness Scientific Committee and as a volunteer for Prevent Blindness Georgia.
At SLStone Consulting, Susan Stone creates connections between for-profit clients and patient, provider and policymaker coalitions and nonprofit organizations, that amplify all stakeholder voices to ensure patient access to appropriate healthcare treatments and services. She develops communications strategies and campaigns that influence activations across a diversity of willing and able advocates. Prior to her consulting work, Ms. Stone has decades of experience in the vision health and biopharmaceutical industries, including Associate Vice President, Global Alliance Advocacy & Patient Affairs at Allergan, plc, (now AbbVie), and as a Board Member for The Allergan Foundation, and Trustee for the Allergan International Foundation. Prior to Allergan, she held numerous leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson across their Medical Device, Biopharma, and Consumer sectors. Ms. Stone has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from San Jose State University, and Master of Business Administration in Management from Golden Gate University.
In addition to joining the Board of Directors, Susan Stone, currently a member of the Prevent Blindness Development Committee, will now serve as the committee’s Chair. She is also a board member of the National Headache Foundation and a consulting advisor for the Aimed Alliance.
“I’m looking forward to working closely with Jim McGrann in his new leadership role at Prevent Blindness,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO. “And I thank Dr. Susan Primo, Susan Stone, and Marc Molea for their years of dedicated commitment to Prevent Blindness, and enthusiastically welcome them to our Board.”
For a full listing of members of the Prevent Blindness Board of Directors, visit here. For more information about Prevent Blindness or general eye health information, visit here.