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Optometric Management

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LEADING OFF: Also Notable

Optometric Management August 1, 2023 Vol 57, Issue August 2022 Page(s): 18, 55
  • Advancing Eyecare announced the appointment of Peter Lothes as global chief operating officer. Mr. Lothes will oversee all operations of Advancing Eyecare’s ophthalmic equipment businesses, including Lombart Instrument, Marco Ophthalmic, INNOVA Medical, and Santinelli International. Mr. Lothes joins Advancing Eyecare with over 30 years of global leadership experience in vision care, including in manufacturing, supply chain, and global operations.
  • All About Vision launched a new myopia information hub at allaboutvision.com/myopia . Features include an interactive myopia simulator, which demonstrates what increasing levels of nearsightedness look like through a child’s eyes, and a myopia assessment to determine a child’s risk for having myopia.
  • The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) announced the recipients of the 2022 Special Recognition Awards: Dr. David S. Loshin received the Lifetime Achievement Award; Dr. Jack Bennett received the Innovation in Optometric Education Award; Vernon Dela Cruz, of VSP Vision, received the ASCO Ophthalmic Industry Leadership Award; Dr. Lucy Kehinde received the Rising Star Award; and Dr. Andrea Meagher received the 2022 Student Award in Clinical Ethics. All award winners were acknowledged during ASCO’s Annual Business Meeting in June.
  • The Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE) is dedicating Issue 66 of Contact Lens Update to the topic of Neuropathic Ocular Pain in an effort to educate practitioners on the condition. The bi-monthly publication is available at no charge by visiting ContactLensUpdate.com .
  • Contact Lens Pioneer John De Carle passed away on June 27th at age 96. He is most known for two seminal innovations. In the mid-1950s, he developed a bifocal corneal concentric lens design that had a center-distance portion, ultimately referred to as the “De Carle design,” which became the basis for later-generation rigid and soft multifocal designs. Second, he was the “Father of Extended Wear.” Ultimately, his technology resulted in the CooperVision Permalens, the first extended-wear lens approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1981. He ultimately built one of the largest extended-wear practices in the world. Awards include the Herschel Medal, from the International Society of Contact Lens Specialists, the American Academy of Optometry Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies Founders Award, and the Dr. Donald R. Korb Award, the highest honor given by the American Optometric Association’s Contact Lens and Cornea Section.
  • CooperVision has released higher prescriptions of its child-friendly MiSight 1 day contact lenses. The expanded range — covering -0.50 D to -7.00 D (0.50 D steps after -6.00 D) in the U.S.— covers nearly 100% of spherical prescriptions for age-appropriate children (who were initially fit between ages 8 and 12) with myopia. In other news, CooperVision announced it has begun construction on the expansion and renovation of its manufacturing, packaging, and distribution facilities in Scottsville and West Henrietta, NY.
  • EssilorLuxottica is encouraging eye doctors to host a “Changing Life Through Lenses Day,” during which ODs can get free glasses and educational resources to share with patients in need. For more information on how to participate, go to https://bit.ly/ChangingLifeThroughLenses .
  • The Foundation Fighting Blindness announced the promotions of Jason Menzo to CEO of the Foundation and Russell Kelley, PhD, MBA, to managing director of the Retinal Degeneration (RD) Fund, the venture arm of the Foundation. Ben Yerxa, Ph.D., who has served as CEO of the Foundation since 2017, will be transitioning to assume the permanent CEO position for Opus Genetics, the first spin-off company internally conceived and launched by the RD Fund to further the Foundation’s mission.
  • Harrow Health announced that IOPIDINE (apraclonidine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution) 1% and MAXITROL (neomycin and polymyxin B sulfates and dexamethasone ophthalmic suspension) 3.5mg/10,000 units/0.1%, are available in the United States. Harrow also announced plans to commercialize MOXEZA (moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution) 0.5% at a later date. Harrow purchased these medicines in December 2021.
  • The McGee Group unveiled a new “back-to-school” lineup of kids’ eyewear, made up of new releases from Vera Bradley and Life is Good. The lineup, consisting of 10 frames from Vera Bradley and nine from Life is Good, includes both new models and recolors of popular frames.
  • SightGlass Vision shared results from its CYPRESS clinical trial, examining the effects of spectacles that use SightGlass Vision Diffusion Optics Technology and their ability to control myopia progression in young children. The study found that spectacles using the Diffusion Optics Technology were shown to significantly reduce both axial length (mean absolute reduction = 0.27 mm) and cycloplegic SER progression (mean absolute reduction = 0.77 D) in 6 and 7-year-old children vs. the control.
  • Treehouse Eyes, a myopia management services company, launched a new online learning platform, Treehouse Eyes University, which is available exclusively to Treehouse Eyes partner practices. The web-based platform provides video-based clinical training from some of the leading experts in myopia management, including Drs. Earl Smith III, Thomas Aller, Jeffrey Cooper, Kevin Chan, Dana Reinhardt, and Thanh Mai. New courses will continue to be added to the platform for advanced topics and will reflect new products and studies as they become available. For information, visit treehouseeyes.com .
  • Versant Health released the results of its third annual Vision Wellness Study, finding that consumer opinions of the value of vision care as part of whole-body health are rising. Of the survey respondents, 70% say the ability to identify eye diseases is a high-value service offered by eye doctors, up from 65% last year; for more statistics from the study, go to https://bit.ly/3rdVersantVisionStudy .
  • Walmart and Memomi, a provider of technology to enhance virtual optical try-on experiences, announced they have entered into an agreement for Walmart to acquire Memomi. Since 2019, Memomi has enabled digital measurements for all Walmart and Sam’s Optical customers, and also powers the Optical eCommerce experience on SamsClub.com .
  • The World Council of Optometry is working with the International Myopia Institute to promote the distribution of a survey investigating myopia management by eye care professionals (ECP) worldwide. The IMI survey titled “Myopia Control Attitudes and Practice” can be found at https://bit.ly/MyopiaManagementSurvey .

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