2024 Focus on Eye Health Summit, a Virtual Interactive Event

Jeff Todd is President and Chief Executive Officer of Prevent Blindness, the leading eye health and safety patient advocacy organization in the United States dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight across all ages and eye conditions. 

Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness fulfills its mission by educating the American public about conditions related to vision and eye health; advocating for public policy that advances equitable access to eyecare; promoting early detection as a key to the prevention of vision loss and blindness; supporting public health research to identify the scope of vision problems across the United States; and developing resources that meet patient and caregiver needs.   

Mr. Todd joined the organization in 2003 as Director of Public Health and later served as Chief Operating Officer until becoming President & CEO in April 2018.  His contributions to the organization have included establishing the Center for Vision and Population Health, a national coordinating body for effective practices, state-level technical assistance, and programmatic interventions; launching the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health, a resource that promotes a continuum of eye health care for children across the country; fostering an annual national summit as a forum for the exchange of ideas relating to vision and public health; and overseeing the development of leading public health research, which has become widely used to capture the prevalence and cost of vision problems across the United States.

In addition to his work at Prevent Blindness, Mr. Todd is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Health Council.  He also serves on the Advisory Committee to the Prevent Child Injury coalition; the Executive Committee of Vision 2020 USA, for which he formerly served as Chair; and the Advisory Board to Jonas Children’s Vision Care at Columbia University Medical Center.  He is a past chair of the Vision Care Section of the American Public Health Association, has served on the Board of Directors of Chicago-based Howard Brown Health Center, and is a member of the District of Columbia (D.C) Bar Association.

Mr. Todd’s past experiences have crossed over government, non-profit, and for-profit sectors.  Beginning his career in the Governor's Office of the State of Indiana, he coordinated a statewide community development initiative supporting county-level health and safety interventions.  He then moved to an executive position with the Center for Youth as Resources, overseeing field operations for this national organization focused on positive youth development.  Prior to Prevent Blindness, Mr. Todd directed the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, a comprehensive repository of federal resources aimed at curbing violence toward and among the nation’s young people.

Originally from Indiana, Mr. Todd currently resides in Chicago.  He holds a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis, a Master’s Degree in communications from Butler University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University–Bloomington.

LinkedIn account - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-todd-0746904

Tom Brunner joined Glaucoma Research Foundation in 2003 after a successful 30-year career in the ophthalmic laser business. He helped introduce major advances in eye care including laser photocoagulation to prevent vision loss from diabetic retinopathy, laser treatment of secondary cataracts, and laser treatment for glaucoma.

Since joining Glaucoma Research Foundation, Tom has helped to more than triple revenue and focus on innovative research to understand how glaucoma steals sight and find a cure. He received a “Lifetime Achievement” award from the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery for his 25 years of service on their Board of Directors.

Dr. Nazanin Heydarian holds a PhD in Health Psychology with a certificate in Quantitative Methods from the University of Texas at El Paso. She completed her National Heart Lung and Blood Institute T32-funded postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin in cardiovascular health disparities. Dr. Nazanin Heydarian’s expertise includes (1) characterizing health disparities and (2) identifying social-cognitive barriers within the disabled population as well as (3) identifying and developing disability-competent practices for healthcare providers.

Stacey Lee is a Professor of Law and Ethics at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School (with a joint appointment at the Bloomberg School of Public Health). She teaches courses in business law, health law, and negotiations. Her research and writing focus on pharmaceutical manufacturers’ international and domestic influence on access to medicines, transformative healthcare negotiations, and the impact of COVID-19 on the employer-employee relationship.

Stacey is the Academic Program Director for Carey Business School's flagship full-time MBA program. In 2019, she founded the Teaching Excellence Initiative to coach faculty and enhance the pedagogy provided to students. She is also an Executive Education faculty member at the Academy for Women and Leadership at Carey Business School.

Stacey is a Fulbright Specialist for her expertise in negotiations and healthcare law. She has received numerous research grants and fellowships for her teaching innovations. Her most recent research focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying laws and policies have affected the employer-employee relationship. Stacey has received several awards for Faculty Excellence, including the Excellence in Teaching Award, year after year, at both Bloomberg School of Public Health and Carey Business School.

Stacey was a featured TEDx speaker on “Patient Voices.” Her work has also been featured in several prominent law reviews and peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Yale Journal of Health Policy and Ethics, Annals of Health Law, Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Journal of Legal Medicine, and Health and Human Rights International Journal. Stacey routinely provides legal analyses to news outlets regarding the Supreme Court, Congress, and current events of national importance. Her interviews, quotes, and writings have appeared in the Washington Post, CBS, CNN, CBC, Bloomberg Radio, USA Today, NPR, TODAY.com, and Voice of America, among other media outlets.

Stacey is currently a Maryland court-appointed Transformative Mediator. Before entering academia, Stacey practiced law for over ten years. She began as a securities litigator and later became in-house counsel for two of the country’s largest healthcare corporations. Stacey also served as the senior regulatory specialist for the United States’ largest national healthcare trade association. Stacey is a much sought-after keynote speaker and negotiations guru. She regularly delivers experiential workshops to diverse audiences, including hospitals, academic medical centers, and business corporations, to equip them with actionable negotiation strategies.

Stacey is the founder and chief executive officer of Praxis Pacisci, a negotiations training institute. She is also the author of “Negotiation Matters,” a monthly LinkedIn Newsletter that serves as her vehicle to share actionable negotiation tips with her audience. Stacey is currently authoring a book on healthcare negotiations, which provides a negotiation framework designed specifically for the healthcare landscape.

Amy Magro currently serves as Executive Director of Patient Advocacy at Amgen and has enjoyed a 31-year career spanning healthcare and pharmaceutical marketing, and patient advocacy. Through her work, Amy has driven marketing and patient support programming that supports neurology therapies at Lundbeck, and anti-infective and cardiovascular therapies at Abbott Laboratories. When joining Horizon Therapeutics (now Amgen), Amy skillfully led the Patient Advocacy team in developing programs that connect patients living with rare diseases, shares educational resources, provides access to supportive grants and research institutions, and supports the work of disease-specific advocacy groups. Amy now continues this with Amgen, to ensure patients can find a sense of community and feel supported throughout their individual diagnoses and treatment journeys.

Mabel Crescioni is a Senior Engagement Officer at the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) where she provides technical assistance on engagement to PCORI funded study teams and leads the translation of engagement knowledge practices into tools and resources to facilitate engagement. Prior to joining PCORI, Mabel had roles at Hemophilia Federation of America, Critical Path Institute (C-Path) and the University of Arizona College of Medicine all focused on patient engagement and capacity building for engagement of individuals and organizations. She also holds appointments as a Professor Practice at the Colleges of Law and Public Health at the University of Arizona.

Lauren Patty Daskivich, MD, MSHS is an ophthalmologist who completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University with a degree in Comparative Literature and Human Biology and an honors focus in Medical Anthropology. She received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency training at the LAC+USC/Doheny Eye Institute, followed by a fellowship in health services research as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and completion of a master’s degree in health services at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her research and policy interests include developing and evaluating interventions to improve eye care delivery to at-risk populations. She currently serves as the Director of Ophthalmic Services and Eye Health Programs for the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LAC DHS), in accordance with her career goal of working on policy and technological interventions to increase timely access to high-quality ophthalmic care for underserved/safety net populations. Her work includes a multi-faceted approach to improving safety net healthcare, providing direct clinical and surgical care at several LAC DHS facilities as well as developing and evaluating interventions to improve public health systems and care delivery to vulnerable populations. In addition to her patient care and operational responsibilities, Dr. Daskivich leads a DHS-wide Eye Health Program that seeks to coordinate and expand eye care and ocular telehealth services for LA County patients, with multiple NIH-funded grants focused on utilizing artificial intelligence algorithms to enhance safety net eye care. She is the Executive Director of LAC DHS Virtual Eye Care, including the Teleretinal Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Program, and Co-Chair of the American Telemedicine Association Ocular SIG, as well as a Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology & Surgery at University of Southern California/Roski Eye Institute and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

Dr. Kristen Nwanyanwu graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan. Her degrees in African American Studies and Biochemistry became the foundation for her career as a health disparities researcher. At the University of Pennsylvania, she earned her medical degree and MBA from the Wharton School. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist and a practicing vitreoretinal surgeon. She completed residency at the University of Michigan and vitreoretinal surgery fellowship at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary at the University of Illinois at Chicago. After joining the Yale faculty, she was selected for the YCCI Junior Faculty Scholars Program through which she completed her Master of Health Science. She is currently the PI for the NIH-funded Sight-Saving Engagement and Evaluation in New Haven (SEEN) Program, a multi-method approach to identifying and addressing health disparities in diabetic retinopathy. She has lectured nationally on health disparities, access to care, and the surgical management of diabetic retinopathy.

Dr. Priscah Mujuru is a Health Scientist Administrator at NIMHD, where she manages a diverse portfolio that includes community and clinical research involving populations across the lifespan. Her interests include health disparities in women and child health; cognitive function; adherence to treatments; environmental exposures; and rural health. Prior to joining the NIMHD, Dr. Mujuru was a Scientific Review Officer-SRO at the NIH Centre for Scientific Review- CSR and subsequently at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Before joining the NIH, Dr. Mujuru spent several years (1993-2010) at West Virginia University where she conducted clinical and community-based research addressing health disparities in asthma, obesity, and occupational and environmental exposures in rural populations. Dr. Mujuru’s clinical practice was in the Occupational Health Clinic that included hearing testing, vision screenings, pulmonary function testing and training, and other occupational exposure monitoring and evaluations. She also led projects in a biomedical pipeline program that introduced high school students from underserved and disadvantaged communities to health sciences careers. Additionally, Dr. Mujuru has guided projects that evaluated public health programs for health professionals and medical students in Africa and advocated for literacy and collected “Books for Africa," a passion she continues to support. Dr. Mujuru received a DrPH in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh; MPH in Environmental Health from Boston University; a BSc in Occupational/Industrial Hygiene from South Bank University, England; RN from Amersham and Wycombe, and Midwifery from Margate and Canterbury Hospitals, England; and a BSN from West Virginia University. Dr. Mujuru has published several scientific papers in her areas of interest.

Dr. Sandra S. Block is a Professor Emeritus at Illinois College of Optometry. She received her O.D. degree (1981) followed by a Pediatric Residency (1982) at the Illinois College of Optometry, where she was a faculty member until her retirement in 2020. She completed her Master of Education at National Louis University and her Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois, School of Public Health. She is a Diplomate in Public Health and Environmental Vision at the American Academy of Optometry, a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Practice and a Fellow of ARVO. She is an Emeritus Board member for Prevent Blindness, was co-chair of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health and currently is the treasurer of VISION 2020 USA Board of Directors.

She served as a consultant to the Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes program from 1995-2022 and was instrumental in developing the vision program used globally.  Her interests lie in primary care for children and persons with disabilities, as well as diagnosis and treatment of visually related learning problems as well as public health issues facing the equity and quality of eye care delivery.

Also Dr. Block has authored numerous publications and conducted presentations worldwide. In September 2023, she was installed as WCO President for the 2023-2025 term, having previously been elected as the WCO President-Elect in November 2021 and serving in this role for just under two years. Prior to this, Dr. Block served on WCO’s Board of Directors as the Public Health Committee Chair.

Elizabeth has 29+ years of illustrious leadership experience in the corporate and development sectors, primarily in the eye health and disability rights domain. Leading highly skilled multi-function teams in Asia and Africa, she has pioneered and fostered significant growth and transformation through social policy change and innovations. Prior to MFV, Elizabeth worked at MS University of Baroda, Nielsen India and Sightsavers. Elizabeth is a recipient of several awards, has written for several publications and holds various board and advisory roles.

Philip Goglas II has worked with patient organizations, professional societies as well as the historically black medical, dental, pharmacy, and veterinary schools for close to a decade. Phil focuses on expanding research and educating policymakers on the challenges of the patient community. He has extensive expertise in the appropriations process and advancing critical legislative priorities through Congress. Phil previously worked for two New York House of Representatives members giving him direct exposure to the legislative process. Philip graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.A. in Government and Politics and from American University with a Master of Public Administration and Policy.

Dr. Toulouse has been a practicing Registered Nurse (RN) since 1995 and currently serves as the Northeast Regional School Nurse Consultant providing support, training, technical assistance, and consultation for school districts in Northeast Massachusetts. She is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE) as a School Nurse and holds a National Certification in School Nursing from the National Board for the Certification of School Nurses (NBCSN).

Dr. Toulouse served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Children’s Vision Commission as a subject matter expert and consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) in the revisions of the MDPH Children’s Vision Screening Protocols released in August 2021. She also serves on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Safe and Supportive Schools Commission representing the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization (MSNO). Shanyn was appointed by MSNO in 2023 to serve a 4-year term on the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) Board of Directors. Additionally, Dr. Toulouse serves on the Advisory Committee for the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health (NCCVEH) at Prevent Blindness. She participates on several local boards and coalitions that serve children, youth, and families in the Greater Haverhill and Merrimack Valley areas of Massachusetts.

Dr. Toulouse is a national and international presenter on school health and is passionate about the unique role of professional School Nurses working in educational settings to bridge health and academic stability for all students. Shanyn was awarded the prestigious Anne Sheetz Leadership Award in 2024 by the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization (MSNO). She has a special interest in children’s vision and eye health and the connection to developing early literacy skills, lifelong health, educational outcomes, and overall achievement. Other areas of professional interest include children’s mental health and health equity. Shanyn values the self-sustaining benefits of spending time in nature and enjoys gardening, hiking, meditation, and yoga.

Sara D. Brown has served as the Director of Government Affairs for Prevent Blindness since April 2017. Prior to her current role, Ms. Brown managed communications projects at a public affairs firm for the Defense Health Agency to promote their work on combat-related psychological health and traumatic brain injury.  She has also represented the legislative and regulatory interests of medical group practice managers to Congress and the Administration as an Associate Director, Government Affairs with the Medical Group Management Association and, working with NRC Health, advised hospital executives on best practices to improve patient experience. She began her career in government and public policy working with two Members of the U.S. Senate for six years in both their state and Washington, DC offices. A Nebraska native, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Nebraska-Kearney and a master’s degree in public administration, focusing on the role of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector in defense and foreign aid policy, from Walden University. In her spare time, Ms. Brown is an avid paddleboarder and a self-trained distance runner, having completed over 15 marathons.

Karen Woodhouse is the Director of Eyes on Learning, a statewide Arizona initiative and coalition of partners and organizations committed to improving children’s vision through vision screening, eye exams and follow-up care when needed. She believes that every child should experience their best vision health and learning success. Using collaborative partnerships to develop policy and programs, she is experienced in building statewide system initiatives from the ground up, as well as improving strategic policies and increasing funding to support unique approaches to allow more children to achieve their best vision health. Her prior roles include Chief Program Officer at First Things First, where she strived for continuous improvement of early childhood systems, including preventative screening for developmental delays and hearing and vision concerns. As Deputy Associate Superintendent at the Arizona Department of Education, she established the department’s Early Childhood Education Division. Karen completed a Master’s of Science degree from the University of Arizona, and throughout her career has focused her passion for young children on increasing equitable opportunities for rich early childhood experiences, healthy development and learning success. More at eyesonlearning.org.

Dr. Sandra S. Block is a Professor Emeritus at Illinois College of Optometry. She received her O.D. degree (1981) followed by a Pediatric Residency (1982) at the Illinois College of Optometry, where she was a faculty member until her retirement in 2020. She completed her Master of Education at National Louis University and her Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois, School of Public Health. She is a Diplomate in Public Health and Environmental Vision at the American Academy of Optometry, a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academy of Practice and a Fellow of ARVO. She is an Emeritus Board member for Prevent Blindness, was co-chair of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health and currently is the treasurer of VISION 2020 USA Board of Directors.

She served as a consultant to the Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes program from 1995-2022 and was instrumental in developing the vision program used globally.  Her interests lie in primary care for children and persons with disabilities, as well as diagnosis and treatment of visually related learning problems as well as public health issues facing the equity and quality of eye care delivery.

Also Dr. Block has authored numerous publications and conducted presentations worldwide. In September 2023, she was installed as WCO President for the 2023-2025 term, having previously been elected as the WCO President-Elect in November 2021 and serving in this role for just under two years. Prior to this, Dr. Block served on WCO’s Board of Directors as the Public Health Committee Chair.  She is the current President of WCO.

Dr. Shelton is an optometrist and PhD candidate at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. Dr. Shelton graduated from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 2018 with her OD and MS in Vision Science. She then completed a residency in Pediatric Optometry, Vision Therapy, and Rehabilitation at Ohio State in 2019. That fall she began her PhD in vision science under Dean VanNasdale, OD, PhD, FAAO. Since then, she has been working interpreting large data sets to better inform our understanding of vision care and vision impairment and working with state and regional pediatric vision care programs to better understand how they intersect with vision-related quality of life. She was awarded the AAOF Michael G Harris Ezell Fellowship in 2021, the John N. Schoen Fellowship in 2022, the APHA Vision Care Section Distinguished Student Award in 2021, the Ohio Lions Eye Research Foundation Fellowship in 2022, the Prevent Blindness Ohio Young Investigator Student Fellowship Award for Female Scholarship in Vision Research in 2022, the Arene T. Wray Fellowship in 2023, the 2023 Ohio Optometric Foundation Archer Award for Humanitarian Service, and has been a NIH Loan Repayment Program Recipient since 2020. When Dr. Shelton isn’t working she enjoys spending time outdoors with her dogs, Karla and Olive. 

Jeff Todd is President and Chief Executive Officer of Prevent Blindness, the leading eye health and safety patient advocacy organization in the United States dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight across all ages and eye conditions. 

Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness fulfills its mission by educating the American public about conditions related to vision and eye health; advocating for public policy that advances equitable access to eyecare; promoting early detection as a key to the prevention of vision loss and blindness; supporting public health research to identify the scope of vision problems across the United States; and developing resources that meet patient and caregiver needs.   

Mr. Todd joined the organization in 2003 as Director of Public Health and later served as Chief Operating Officer until becoming President & CEO in April 2018.  His contributions to the organization have included establishing the Center for Vision and Population Health, a national coordinating body for effective practices, state-level technical assistance, and programmatic interventions; launching the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health, a resource that promotes a continuum of eye health care for children across the country; fostering an annual national summit as a forum for the exchange of ideas relating to vision and public health; and overseeing the development of leading public health research, which has become widely used to capture the prevalence and cost of vision problems across the United States.

In addition to his work at Prevent Blindness, Mr. Todd is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Health Council.  He also serves on the Advisory Committee to the Prevent Child Injury coalition; the Executive Committee of Vision 2020 USA, for which he formerly served as Chair; and the Advisory Board to Jonas Children’s Vision Care at Columbia University Medical Center.  He is a past chair of the Vision Care Section of the American Public Health Association, has served on the Board of Directors of Chicago-based Howard Brown Health Center, and is a member of the District of Columbia (D.C) Bar Association.

Mr. Todd’s past experiences have crossed over government, non-profit, and for-profit sectors.  Beginning his career in the Governor's Office of the State of Indiana, he coordinated a statewide community development initiative supporting county-level health and safety interventions.  He then moved to an executive position with the Center for Youth as Resources, overseeing field operations for this national organization focused on positive youth development.  Prior to Prevent Blindness, Mr. Todd directed the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, a comprehensive repository of federal resources aimed at curbing violence toward and among the nation’s young people.

Originally from Indiana, Mr. Todd currently resides in Chicago.  He holds a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law–Indianapolis, a Master’s Degree in communications from Butler University, and a Bachelor’s Degree from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University–Bloomington.

LinkedIn account - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-todd-0746904