CHICAGO—Prevent Blindness, a nonprofit eye health and safety organization, hosted its 13th annual Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health Summit on July 10 and 11, 2024. This year’s Summit included a variety of presentations related to the theme “Being Seen and Heard.” More than 800 registrants of the free, virtual and interactive two-day event were able to access an exhibitor hall, participate in “coffee chats” with fellow attendees and attend presentations on a variety of vision and public health topics led by leaders from across the country.

Focus on Eye Health Summit keynote presenters included:

● Stacey Lee, JD, professor of law and ethics at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School (with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health) with her presentation, “The Patient Voice.”

● Brian Anderson, MD, chief executive officer, Coalition for Health AI, and Randall L. Rutta, chief executive officer, National Health Council, conducted a keynote fireside chat titled “The Human Side of AI in Healthcare.”

 
 Elizabeth Kurian, chief executive officer of Mission for Vision, accepting the 2024 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health from Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness.
  
Sessions on July 10 included “Vision Research and the Citizen Scientist,” and “Seeing and Hearing Children’s Vision Needs.” The 2024 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health was presented to Mission for Vision (MFV), a nonprofit that seeks to restore vision through eye surgeries, and was accepted by Elizabeth Kurian, chief executive officer of MFV. The fifth annual Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award was presented to Erica Shelton, OD, MS, The Ohio State University College of Optometry.

Day two of the Summit, July 11, included sessions and discussions on “The Many Eyes in Artificial Intelligence” and “Visible Voices: Vignettes of Being Seen and Heard,” featuring recent graduates of the Prevent Blindness ASPECT Engagement Program.

Presentations and webinar recordings are available on the Prevent Blindness YouTube page here or at PreventBlindness.org/2024-eyesummit-presentations.

Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said, “Through the Focus on Eye Health Summit, we annually bring together key stakeholders and concerned public health advocates to discuss innovative concepts, best practices in education, services and outreach, and share perspectives, both professional and personal, on vision and eye health care. We thank all of our participants, distinguished speakers, and our generous sponsors for their support in helping us produce another successful Summit.”


Erica Shelton, OD, MS, The Ohio State University College of Optometry accepting the 2024 Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award.

Platinum Sponsors of the Summit included Alliance for Aging Research and PhRMA. Gold sponsors were Amgen Rare Disease, Apellis Pharmaceuticals, BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) and Regeneron. Silver sponsors included Alexion, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Retina Specialists, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Astellas, BrightFocus Foundation, The EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, Glaucoma Research Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Kirin, Lions Clubs International Foundation, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, Patient Access Network Foundation and Research to Prevent Blindness.