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2023 Focus on Eye Health Summit, a Virtual Interactive Event

July 12-13, 2023

Why the Eye? 

From our earliest years through our final days, our sight plays a wondrous role in who we are as people and as a population. Diverse voices engaging in discussions around this lifelong impact will stimulate conversations around the challenges to equitable access to eye care, unique collaborations across stakeholders, and opportunities to integrate vision into public health policies, practices, and research advancement. This event will remind us why the eye should be an important focus for us all.

Who should attend? 

This free event attracts a global audience of patient advocates, community-based organizations, 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.

 



Agenda

Download PDF Agenda 

View Speaker and Presenter Bios

11:00 AM EDT

Exhibit Hall: 11:00am-4:30pm Eastern

Explore the exhibit hall and downloadable information available from our event sponsors. Video chat, text chat, and email communications will be available from vendor staff during this period.

11:30 AM EDT

SESSION 1: Opening Remarks & Keynote Presentation

Jeff Todd (Moderator)
President & CEO, Prevent Blindness
Neil Bressler, MD
Editor-in-Chief, JAMA Ophthalmology; Professor of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Keynote Presentation - Why the Eye: Advances in Eyecare and the Impact on the Patient

The goal of the keynote is to discuss how recent innovations are advancing eye care and how these innovations are impacting the patient.

12:20 PM EDT

BREAK

12:35 PM EDT

SESSION 2: Why the Eye: Making an Impact With the Stories We Tell

Kevin D. Frick, PhD (Moderator)
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
Patrice Marie Hicks, PhD, MPH
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan
Sila Bal, MD, MPH
Cornea and Refractive Surgery Fellow, Harvard Ophthalmology
Christina Gill
Global Family Coordinator, Know the Glow

The goal of this session is to discuss through a roundtable format how data, social media, and patient advocacy can be used to tell a story around the importance of vision and eye health.

01:25 PM EDT

BREAK

01:40 PM EDT

SESSION 3: 2023 Rising Visionary Award

Jim McGrann (Moderator)
Board Chair, Prevent Blindness
Christina Ambrosino
MD candidate, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

The Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award is presented annually to a student or resident in a health-related field who submits the best overall application and essay addressing the 2023 Focus on Eye Health Summit theme: Why the Eye?

02:05 PM EDT

BREAK

02:20 PM EDT

SESSION 4: Why the Eye: Reimagining How We Engage Communities from Identification into Care – Children and Adults

Tami Garcia (Moderator)
President & CEO, Prevent Blindness Wisconsin
Verian Wedeking
Program Director, OHSU Casey Eye Institute Community Outreach
Mayhoua Moua
Executive Director, Milwaukee Consortium for Hmong Health, Inc
Ellen K. Antwi-Adjei, OD, MPH
Vision Science Graduate Program Trainee, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry
Mercedes Hernández, MPH, CHES
Director of Child and Family Health, East Coast Migrant Head Start Project

The goal of this session is to discuss through a roundtable format how communities overcome barriers from identification to care by addressing access, cultural and language barriers, transportation, and use of telemedicine.

03:10 PM EDT

BREAK

03:25 PM EDT

SESSION 5: 2023 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health & Closing Remarks

Jim McGrann (Moderator)
Board Chair, Prevent Blindness
Dean A. VanNasdale, OD, PhD, FAAO
Associate Professor, The Ohio State University College of Optometry
Jeff Todd
President & CEO, Prevent Blindness

The Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health is presented annually to an individual, group, 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.

11:30 AM EDT

Exhibit hall: 11:30am-3:30pm Eastern

Explore the exhibit hall and download information available from our event sponsors. Only email communication with exhibit booths will be available this day.

11:30 AM EDT

SESSION 1: Opening Remarks & Keynote Presentation:

Jeff Todd (Moderator)
President & CEO, Prevent Blindness
Julian Eaton, BSc, MSc, MBBS, MRCPsych
Mental Health Director, CBM Global; Assistant Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Why the Eye: Innovative Mental Health Approaches

The goal of this session is to discuss the importance of and share actionable steps for integrating mental health into the vision and eye health community, share examples of how mental health has integrated in other health areas, and end with lessons learned and key takeaways for the vision and eye health community.

12:15 PM EDT

BREAK

12:30 PM EDT

SESSION 2: Why the Eye: Forum on the Public Health Connection Between Mental Wellness and Vision

The goal of this forum is to discuss the importance of integrating mental health and vision and eye health; provide an overview of findings from the Prevent Blindness mental health task force; discuss in a roundtable with various providers around awareness, training, and resources available and needed; explore an integrated care model; and learn from the patient experience.

 

Moderator

Steven M. Silverstein, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Ophthalmology, University of Rochester Medical Center

Patient Perspective

Carol Johnson
Prevent Blindness ASPECT Patient Engagement Program Graduate

Public Health Case Around Mental Health and Vision

Varshini Varadaraj, MD, MPH
Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Disability Health Research Center

Overview of Prevent Blindness Issue Brief - Vision Loss and Mental Health: Key Takeaways from an Interprofessional Task Force

Julie Grutzmacher, MSW, MPH
Director of Patient Advocacy & Population Health Initiatives, Prevent Blindness

Provider Roundtable Discussion

Melissa Taussig, MA, LCPC
Private Practice
K. Thiran Jayasundera MD, MS
Paul R. Lichter Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Michigan
Rochelle Neutra, MSN, FNP-BC
Patient; Provider; Advocate; Prevent Blindness ASPECT Program Graduate
Kelly Scherer, OD
Director of Clinical Services, The Lighthouse Chicago

Patient Perspective

Larry Woodard
Prevent Blindness ASPECT Patient Engagement Program Graduate
02:30 PM EDT

BREAK

02:45 PM EDT

SESSION 3: Session & Closing Remarks

Jennifer Dexter (Moderator)
Vice President of Policy, National Health Council
Sara D. Brown, MPA
Director of Government Affairs, Prevent Blindness
Angela Kimball
Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy, Inseparable

Why the Eye: Policy Opportunities and Obstacles Around Vision and Mental Wellness

The goal of this session through a fireside chat is to identify the separate and mutual policy obstacles and opportunities that exist within the vision and eye health and mental wellness communities, and to determine how both communities can work together to ensure patients facing vision loss are connected to the mental health care they need to maintain well-being.

Sponsors
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Give Now

Thanks to your generous support we are proud to offer the "Focus on Eye Health Summit" completely free of charge.