(PRESS RELEASE) CHICAGO, IL — Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, will host the 11th annual Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit on July 13-14, 2022 as a virtual event. This year’s Summit will include a variety of presentations related to the theme, “Eye-conic Approaches to Eye Health,” offering simultaneous access to expert presentations; a dedicated exhibitor hall; educational materials, videos, and toolkits; on-demand educational content; and in-platform opportunities for networking and collaboration.
This annual event attracts a global audience of patient advocates, community-based and advocacy organizations, national vision and eye health organizations, researchers, health-care providers, educators, early childhood education professionals, senior- and child-care professionals, government agency staff, corporate partners, health program professionals, and legislative staff. All are invited to visit the social media lounge, and follow on Twitter at #eyesummit.
To date, Platinum Sponsors of the 2022 Focus on Eye Health National Summit are the Alliance for Aging Research, Genentech, Horizon Therapeutics, and PhRMA. Gold sponsors include Alcon, the American Glaucoma Society, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, the Center for Vision & Population Health at Prevent Blindness, and the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness. Silver sponsors include the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR), the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Optometric Association, BrightFocus Foundation, CooperVision, the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation, REGENXBIO, Vision 2020 USA, and VisionServe Alliance.
The summit will kick-off on July 13th, with Frank Bruni, New York Times journalist and author, who will deliver the opening keynote address. Mr. Bruni will share his personal experience with vision loss and how it has given him insight into the human experience- as detailed in his New York Times bestseller, “Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found.”
Additional presentations at the Focus on Eye Health National Summit on July 13 will include:
- The Global Impact of Eye Health
H.E. Walton Webson, Permanent Representative of Antigua and Barbuda to the United Nations, Co-Chair of the United Friends of Vision Group, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States
Caroline Casey, IAPB President, Founder of The Valuable 500 - Engaging Technology to Support Vision Health and Quality of Life
Ranya Habash, MD; CEO, LifeLong Vision
Kyle Keane, PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Prevent Blindness will also formally present the 2022 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health to VOSH/International (V/I). 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.
The third annual Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award will be presented to co-recipients, Marissa K. Shoji, MD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, and Hursuong Vongsachang, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Rising Visionary Award is presented annually to an optometry, ophthalmology, primary health care, nursing, or other health professional student or resident in the United States who has the best overall application and essay addressing the 2022 Focus on Eye Health National Summit theme.
Prevent Blindness has declared 2022 as “The Year of Children’s Vision.” As part of the initiative, the second day of the Summit, July 14th, will feature the “Forum on Children’s Vision,” addressing how diverse data sources on children’s vision help provide an understanding of the people the data represent; how the educational system can play an important role in systems of eye care for school-aged children; and how to develop equitable pediatric research life cycles that are more inclusive of children and families. In addition, patient and parent perspectives will be shared to demonstrate their lived experiences. The day will close with a presentation from Dr. Amelie Ramirez, director of Salud America!, who will share strategies to promote health and wellness among the Latinx population.
“The Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit has continued to expand its reach to a global audience, bringing together patients and professionals from around the world to provide education and vital resources to improve access and patient outcomes,” said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “We invite everyone to join us on July 13 and 14 to network, collaborate, and learn about the ways we can work together to save sight.”
To register or for more information about the 2022 Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit, including sponsorship opportunities, visit here, preventblindness.org, or contact Nita Sinha, director of Public Health, at eyesummit@preventblindness.org.