January 2013: Public Health and Environmental Vision Section Newsletter
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Summary of AAO Phoenix Meeting The Public Health and Environmental Vision Section had a very exciting meeting in Phoenix as a record 5 candidates successfully completed requirements to become diplomates of the section. Also, Dr. Stephen Dain from Sydney, Australia became our first INTERNATIONAL diplomate. The five new diplomates have varied backgrounds and add exciting talents and professional experiences to the section. Short biographies for each new diplomate are shown below. |
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The PHEV Section Symposium drew a large attendance as lecturers discussed their individual humanitarian experiences. Dr. Alfred Sommer reviewed his historic public health accomplishments fighting vitamin A deficiency and river blindness in Africa. Dr. C. Ellis Porter reviewed Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) accomplishments around the world, while Dr. Gerald Lowther discussed his experiences as advisor to optometry programs in Poland, Thailand, and Hong Kong. To complete the symposium, Dr. Ronald Weinstein discussed his efforts establishing telemedicine programs across Arizona and establishing a telepathology network in over 35 countries. Immediate past-program chair CDR Kevin Jackson and new program chair Dr. Debbie Hettler are to be commended for organizing this well received presentation. |
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Section officers rotated into new positions to guide us over the next 2 years. Section officers are:
Business meeting attendees unanimously agreed to schedule the Section Business Meeting for the Seattle 2013 Academy for Thursday evening instead of our typical early morning (6:45 AM) meeting on Friday. It is planned that our Section Reception will again be scheduled on Thursday evening immediately following the business meeting. It is hoped all section members will be able to attend both of these Thursday evening events. The Henry Peters Lecture Fund has received support over this past year, but is still well below the minimum $25,000 required to have our first Henry Peters Lecture! It is hoped that all section members will designate their AOF contributions to this fund specifically instead of providing a general, non-designated gift. LTCDR Ryan Manning (US Navy) successfully completed his written and oral examinations to become a candidate for diplomate status within the section. Dr. Manning is currently completing his MPH degree through the program at SALUS University. As a reminder, the 2013 AAO meeting will be held in Seattle, Washington on October 23 -26. Hope to see you there! |
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Andrew Mario Archila, OD, MBA, FAAO is currently the Officer in Charge of the Naval Branch Health Clinic Yuma, a primary care clinic, on the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona. He is an active duty military officer serving in the US Navy since 1999. He has achieved the rank of Commander and was named the Navy’s Junior Optometrist of the Year for 2003. He has completed a Fellowship in Clinic Administration and Health Care Management at the SUNY College of Optometry while concurrently earning an MBA in Health Care Administration at CUNY Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business in New York City. He has presented several COPE-approved courses, including continuing education given at the Academy’s Annual Meeting. His areas of expertise are in patient-centered medical home development, patient registries, hospital-based optometry, emergency room consultation and productivity. He was appointed to and currently serves on the American Optometric Association’s Registry Committee. He has been Adjunct Faculty for the University of Houston, Pacific, Southern California College of Optometry, SUNY College of Optometry, Illinois College of Optometry and currently holds the same position with the Arizona College of Optometry. His hobbies include sports and he is an avid runner. He is married to his wife Maritza for 12 years and has 3 children. He considers it a great honor and achievement to become a Diplomate in the Public Health and Environmental Vision Section in the American Academy of Optometry.
Stephen Dain graduated from City University London BSc(Optometry) (1968) and PhD(1972). In addition to the Academy, he is a fellow of the College of Optometrists, the Illuminating Engineering Societies (ANZ) and the Metrology Society of Australia. After a short time in private practice, he took up a research appointment at the Department of Optometry, University of Melbourne doing work on vehicle signalling systems. In 1976 he was appointed a lecturer in the School of Applied Physics and Optometry at the University of New South Wales. He retired at the end of 2006 as Professor and Head of the School of Optometry and Vision Science. He is currently Director of the Optics & Radiometry Laboratory (ORLAB), a laboratory that undertakes work for industry including research, product testing and development, calibration and measurement in optics, photometry and colorimetry. ORLAB is accredited to ISO1725. Stephen’s teaching and research mainly included the areas of colour vision, including clinical examination, and occupational aspects of eyes and vision. He is an honorary life member of both the International Colour Vision Society and the Colour Society of Australia, an Associate Editor of Color: Research and Application and a member of the Editorial Board of Clinical and Experimental Optometry. Stephen chairs the Standards Australia committees on Eye and Face Protection, Sunglasses and Fashion Spectacles and Human Factors and leads the Australian delegation to ISO TC94/SC6 Eye and Face Protection. He has published 106 refereed papers and made many conference presentations.
Lori L. Grover, OD, PhD, FAAO is a nationally recognized clinician and educator in the field of vision impairment and rehabilitation. An Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Wilmer Eye Institute, Dr. Grover received her PhD in Health Services Research and Policy, Department of Health Policy and Management from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. As a recipient of a National Eye Institute/National Institutes of Health Mentored Clinical Scientist Training Grant award, she served as the Principle Investigator studying team strategies for, and patient access to, vision rehabilitation care. Dr. Grover has collaborated with public health and health care professionals on projects including the Optometrists’ Tobacco Cessation Intervention Study, conjoint analysis methodology for patient populations with special needs, and is studying health information technology applications in vision rehabilitation, specifically the use of clinical decision support (CDS) systems in the treatment of chronic vision impairment. She is a Past Chair of the American Optometric Association Vision Rehabilitation Section (AOA VRS) Executive Council and currently serves on the AOA Evidence-Based Committee. She is a Vision Care Section Councilor of the American Public Health Association, and has held leadership positions in five AOA state affiliate associations. She was the 2004 ICO Alumna of the Year, 2006 recipient of the Don Aldrich Advocacy Award from the Mayor of Phoenix and Commission on Disability Issues, elected to the National Academies of Practice in 2009, and a 2012 Distinguished Alumnus from Albion College. She remains an active consultant for state, local, third party and professional groups on vision rehabilitation policy and is a frequent lecturer and international speaker on vision impairment.
Sandra E. Wang-Harris, OD, MPH, FAAO is a 1997 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Optometry and completed a residency at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Dr. Wang-Harris founded and established the first eye clinic to serve HIV patients of the Aids Action Coalition in North Alabama in 1999. From 2002-2003, she served as a World Council of Optometry Fellow to the Kingdom of Nepal. From 2010-2012, Sandra was elected an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Optometrists Association. Focusing on blindness prevention, optometric education and public health advocacy in developing countries, Sandra has lived and worked in Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, and currently in Dili, Timor Leste. In Dili, she works with Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand in curriculum development with the Ministry of Health and teaches optometry and clinical eye care at the newly opened National Eye Centre. She is currently a lecturer at the University of the West Indies Faculty of Medical Sciences developing and teaching the first distance based learning courses in low vision and binocular vision. In her spare time, Sandra teaches and performs classical music on her harp and flute to music students.
Patrick D. Yoshinaga, OD, MPH, FAAO, received the Doctor of Optometry degree from the Southern California College of Optometry and a Master of Public Health from California State University, Fullerton. He has enjoyed working in private practice since 1987 and has served as Director of Contact Lens Services at the University of Southern California Doheny Eye Institute. While at the Doheny Eye Institute from 1984 to 2000, he practiced with special emphasis in the areas of contact lens fitting of post-surgical patients and for the treatment of ocular disease, as well as in low vision rehabilitation. He also served as coordinator of the Las Vegas Low Vision Clinic; State of Nevada Bureau of Services to the Blind and Visually Impaired from 2006 to 2011. Dr. Yoshinaga is currently an Assistant Professor at SCCO and teaches in the areas of ophthalmic optics, low vision rehabilitation, and public health. He has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry since 1986.