NEWS spectrum

Record Attendance at AAO

The 2010 American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Annual Meeting took place from Nov. 16 to 20, 2010, in San Francisco. More than 5,600 attendees came to this year's meeting, over 3,800 of them optometrists, which was up from the nearly 4,800 attendees at the Anaheim 2008 meeting. Academy 2010 San Francisco also offered more than 258 hours of lectures and workshops, section symposia, and hundreds of scientific papers and posters as well as 150 companies exhibiting in 250 booths in the exhibit hall.

Educational highlights of this year's meeting included the Plenary Session Today's Research, Tomorrow's Practice: Policy, Advocacy and Science in Women's Health, in which Susan Wood, PhD, from George Washington University's School of Public Health and Health Services and Barbara A. Brenner, JD, of Breast Cancer Action discussed connections between breast cancer therapy and vision. They also discussed the failure in women's health care, leading to changes in healthcare delivery regulation.

This year's Monroe J. Hirsch Research Symposium was titled “Ocular Genetics: From Laboratory to Clinical Practice and Back Again,” which addressed molecular diagnosis, using it in practice and how the National Ophthalmic Disease Genotyping Network (eyeGene) can help, and a look at future therapeutic options for inherited eye disease. Speakers included Brian Brooks, MD, PhD, former chair of the eyeGene steering committee and chief of the Unit on Pediatric, Developmental and Genetic Eye Disease at the National Eye Institute; Richard Lewis, MD, MS, professor, Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor School of Medicine; and Rodney Nowakowski, OD, PhD, FAAO, interim dean at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.

Another highlight was the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society's summary presentation of its Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Workshop.

The next AAO Annual Meeting will take place in Boston from Oct. 12 to 15, 2011.

Silicone Hydrogel Gets FDA Clearance

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Definitive (Contamac US), a new silicone hydrogel polymer material. Definitive is now available through several partner laboratories including Art Optical, Metro Optics, Unilens, and XCel/Walman. The respective manufacturing laboratories will introduce specialty lenses produced in their own designs.

Alcon's Opti-Free Replenish Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution will be featured as the preferred lens solution for the rollout of the new designs by Contamac's partner laboratories.

Definitive has been available globally for nearly two years.

Ezell Fellowships Awarded

Bausch + Lomb and the American Optometric Foundation (AOF) have announced the 2010 recipients of the William C. Ezell Fellowships. The Ezell Fellowship Program, named after the founding president of the AOF, William C. Ezell, OD, was established in 1949 to provide post-graduate students with the opportunity to pursue careers in optometric research and education. Recipients are chosen based on excellence in scholarship, research, and teaching.

In addition to the fellowships, which are awarded at $8,000 for one year, each Ezell Fellow also receives a $750 travel grant to attend the annual meetings of both the American Academy of Optometry and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

The 2010 recipients are Kristine Dalton, OD, MSc, Aston University, Birmingham, UK, OTG Research & Consultancy, London, UK, who is studying vision strategy in sports, and Vidhyapriya Sreenivasan, BS Optom, MSc, School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Canada, who is investigating ocular motor adaptation to lenses and prisms in myopic and emmetropic children. As a first-time recipient, Dr. Dalton has been “inspired to continue to strive for excellence in optometric research as both a scientist and a clinician.” Dr. Sreenivasan feels that it is “truly an honor to be included in this group of highly accomplished optometric and vision science researchers.”

AOF President Tony Adams, OD, PhD, FAAO, said “Bausch + Lomb have sponsored Ezell Fellowships for over a decade. Former Fellows have gone on to become leaders in education, the profession, and the ophthalmic industry. We truly value this ongoing partnership.”

OAA Presents Vision By Design Annual Meeting

The Orthokeratology Academy of America's annual meeting and educational conference, Vision By Design 2010, featured presentations on myopia control as well as corneal reshaping to correct severe myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and more. More than 250 attendees from 13 countries took part in the conference, which included hands-on fitting seminars hosted by Eye-Quip (Wave contact lenses), OrthoTools, Euclid (Emerald Lens), Paragon (CRT), and Global Orthokeratology (GOV lenses). Specialty seminars included Dual Axis fitting (Paragon), Advanced Wave designs, Super Charge Your Practice-power workshop, and a boot camp for newcomers to corneal reshaping.

Speakers included Patrick Caroline, Dr. Helen Swarbrick, Dr. Nick Despotidis, Dr. Sami El Hage, Dr. Earl Smith III, Dr. Jeffrey Walline, Dr. Thomas Reim, Randy Kojima, Dr. Ken Maller, Dr. Cary Herzberg, Dr. Peter Wilcox, Dr. David Bartels, Dr. Rob Gerowitz, and Dr. Bill Berke.

Patrick Caroline was presented the “Excellence In Ortho-K” award, which is presented annually to an individual who has contributed significantly to the development of orthokeratology. The academy also awarded a research fellowship to both Dr. Earl Smith III and Patrick Caroline for their contributions to the field of corneal reshaping.

Vision By Design 2011 will be held April 29 to May 1 in Orlando, Fla. The three-day event will offer courses for both beginner and advanced orthokeratologists. The “Boot Camp for Beginners” for both staff and practitioners will be held on April 29. This meeting will include more than 10 hours of corneal reshaping education.

B+L Switching to Rub Labeling

Bausch + Lomb is providing a rub and rinse regimen in the directions for use of its multipurpose contact lens solutions. The initiative includes the removal of the phrase “no rub” from the product labeling of its Renu Fresh multipurpose contact lens solution globally. The company says this is part of an ongoing initiative that promotes an optimal contact lens wearing experience.

“Bausch + Lomb is committed to partnering with eye care professionals to ensure excellent vision, comfort and health for contact lens wearing patients,” said Mohinder Merchea, OD, PhD, MBA, director, Medical Affairs, North America Vision Care, B+L. “By choosing to proactively change our multipurpose solution labeling to only include a rub regimen for cleaning and disinfecting lenses, we are providing patients with the insights we've gained from the 92 percent of eye care professionals who instruct their patients to rub their lenses.”

Bausch + Lomb's product labeling transition has been under way since the beginning of 2010. Two of the company's multipurpose contact lens solutions—Biotrue and Renu Sensitive—already include labeling directions to rub and rinse lenses as part of the care and cleaning regimen. In the United States, the transition from “no rub” to “rub” directions for use of the Renu Fresh brand will be completed by May 2011.

In other B+L solution news, Popular Science magazine has named Biotrue to its Best of What's New Awards, an annual roundup of the 100 most extraordinary innovations of the previous year, in the Health category. Spanning 11 categories, the Best of What's New winners are featured in the December issue of Popular Science, in the iTunes store and at www.popsci.com.

Barr Receives Max Schapero Award

Joseph Barr, OD, MS, FAAO, received the American Academy of Optometry's (AAO) 2010 Max Schapero Memorial Award at the 88th annual AAO meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Dr. Barr, currently vice president, Global Clinical & Medical Affairs and Professional Services, Vision Care, for Bausch + Lomb, was honored with the award given to a clinician, researcher, or scholar who has made a significant contribution to the cornea and contact lens field through publications, lectures or research efforts.

Dr. Barr, a former editor of Contact Lens Spectrum and Contact Lenses Today, also served on the Executive Committee and was director of the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus Photography Reading Center. He is a member of the inaugural global advisory council to the Pediatric Cataract Initiative, a program cosponsored by the Bausch + Lomb Early Vision Institute and Lions Clubs International Foundation.