The 2016 recipient of the Prevent Blindness Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health, Bruce Moore, OD, (l) Marcus Professor of Pediatric Studies, New England College of Optometry, and Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.—On July 13, Prevent Blindness held its 5th annual Focus on Eye Health National Summit at the National Press Club here and featured presentations from a variety of leading experts in vision and public health. The full webcast and copies of the all the presentations can be found here.

At the Summit, Prevent Blindness debuted “The Focus Initiative,” a virtual forum for those working in vision and public health. The Focus Initiative is a professional network that encourages the sharing of resources, including vision research, research grant opportunities, professional recognition, training materials, webinars, events, etc., among the vision and public health community. Those interested in participating can join the dedicated LinkedIn group by visiting www.preventblindness.org/linkedin.

In addition, Prevent Blindness presented the Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health to Bruce Moore, OD, Marcus Professor of Pediatric Studies, New England College of Optometry. The award is presented annually to 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, and/or national level.

Gold-level sponsors of the event included the Allergan Foundation, American Academy of Ophthalmology, BrightFocus Foundation, Genentech, Lighthouse Guild International, the National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness, NORC at the University of Chicago and OneSight.

Silver-level sponsors were Alliance for Aging Research, Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, American Optometric Association, Association for Researchers in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), The EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, Foundation Fighting Blindness, International Retinal Research Foundation, Notal Vision, Regeneron, Research to Prevent Blindness, Vision 2020 USA, Vision Impact Institute and VisionServe Alliance.

“We want to thank all of our sponsors, presenters and attendees for helping to make this year’s Focus on Eye Health National Summit a tremendous success,” said Hugh R. Parry, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.

For more information on the Focus on Eye Health National Summit, The Focus Initiative or general eye health information, from Prevent Blindness, please call (800) 331-2020 or visit www.preventblindness.org.