NEWSspectrum

Dr. Carla Mack Joins Alcon

Alcon has appointed Carla Mack, OD, MBA, FAAO, as director of professional and clinical support for US Vision Care. In this role, Dr. Mack will provide the organization with clinical and technical expertise, as well as set the group’s professional communications strategy.

Dr. Mack has nearly 20 years of experience in a wide range of disciplines in the eyecare field, from clinical practice, to academia, to research, to commercial. Alcon says that this background gives her the ability to help link the professional, technical, and commercial strategies for the company.

Prior to joining Alcon, Dr. Mack was the Global Director of Medical Affairs and the Global Director of Professional Marketing at Bausch + Lomb.

She’s been on the faculty at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Optometry, where she ran the eyecare practice as the director of clinics. While at OSU, she examined thousands of patients and taught courses in glaucoma management, specialty contact lenses, and practice management.

Dr. Mack has served as the editor of Contact Lens Spectrum and the Contact Lenses Today e-newsletter, and she sat on the Optometric Management editorial advisory board. She is a Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry and a Diplomate in the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies. Dr. Mack completed a hospital-based disease residency and earned both her Doctor of Optometry and her Master of Business Administration from OSU.

SynergEyes Names Dr. Jeffrey Sonsino Director of Clinical Studies

SynergEyes, Inc. has named Jeffrey Sonsino, OD, FAAO, its new director of clinical studies. In a consultative role, Dr. Sonsino will lead SynergEyes’ clinical studies by engaging patients within his practice and by networking with other colleagues around the country when a large number of patients are enrolled in clinical studies.

A graduate of the New England College of Optometry, Dr. Sonsino completed his residency in cornea and contact lenses at the Illinois Eye Institute in Chicago. For 11 years, he was an assistant professor at Vanderbilt Eye Institute. While at Vanderbilt, he founded the Center for Sight Enhancement, was director of the Scleral Lens Clinic, and authored nine patents on vision-related medical devices.

A council member of the American Optometric Association’s Contact Lens Section and a Diplomate in the Cornea, Contact Lenses and Refractive Technologies Section of the American Academy of Optometry, Dr. Sonsino is in private practice with his wife, Michele Sonsino, OD, in Nashville, Tenn.

Experts Discuss Ocular Surface Wellness

Eyecare thought leaders from across the United States and Canada participated in an advisory meeting held by Alcon to discuss ocular surface wellness through prevention rather than treatment. This meeting was moderated by Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO, the Foundation for Education and Research in Vision (FERV) Professor at the University of Houston College of Optometry.

Discussions covered current knowledge of the ocular surface in health and disease; best practices for screening, diagnosis, and treatment of ocular surface conditions and symptom relief; and, especially, ways to address ocular surface wellness.

Participants discussed approaches to promote ocular surface wellness; how these apply to special populations (such as lens wearers and candidates for ocular surgery); and how to generate a higher level of public awareness around the importance of eye health.

Bringing in experts from outside of eye care, the group explored wellness from the perspectives of dentistry, dermatology, and psychology—sparking conversation and new ideas about how eyecare professionals can make positive eyecare behaviors a priority for patients.

Alcon plans to disseminate the advisory board’s insights in a variety of ways over the course of the next year.

Global Contact Lens Forum Program Announced

The Global Contact Lens Forum (GCLF) is the result of a joint partnership agreement between the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) and the International Vision Expo & Conference. Taking place on March 26 to 27 at the Javits Center in New York, immediately prior to International Vision Expo East 2014, the two-day event will offer world-class continuing education and business lectures jointly devised by the International Vision Expo Conference Advisory Board and the BCLA.

Exploring all aspects of contact lens practice business, the COPE-approved program features internationally renowned speakers such as Professor Lyndon Jones (Canada), who will deliver the keynote address, Nick Rumney (BCLA/UK), Dr. Joe Barr (USA), Dr. Kirk Smick (USA), Dr. Jack Shaeffer (USA), and Shelly Bansal (BCLA/UK).

Topics will include: contact lenses yesterday, today, and tomorrow; contact lenses are good business; using the tools of the trade; contact lens wearing schedules: an ongoing debate; the response of the ocular system to contact lenses; how patients will get their contact lenses tomorrow; and a Q&A titled “Here we are today and what we can do now.”

The GCLF is part of a multi-year, content exchange agreement between Vision Expo and the BCLA designed to improve continuing education offerings at their respective conferences. A second forum will take place during the 38th BCLA Clinical Conference and Exhibition, from June 6 to 9 at the ICC Birmingham, UK.

BCLA members who would like to attend the GCLF in New York are being offered free exhibition hall admission, representing a saving of $75, and 10% off the entire continuing education program by visiting www.visionexpoeast.com/BCLA.