CONTACT LENS SPECTRUM CONTINUES RESIDENTS PROGRAM

Contact Lens Spectrum (CLS) is once again working with residents and post-graduate students to give them experience with trade journal publishing and an opportunity to attain a greater understanding of the latest information in CLS. Participants will help the CLS editors review clinical information and references of manuscripts submitted for publication. This will help increase their knowledge in those topic areas, and it will also help ensure that CLS is publishing the most accurate and timely information available. Participants of the 2020-2021 program include:

• Jasmeen Bhangu, OD, cornea and contact lens resident at Specialty Eyecare Group, Seattle
• Noelle Bock, OD, anterior segment disease and medical contact lens resident, Davis Duehr Dean Eye Care, Madison, WI
• Connie Chen, OD, cornea and contact lens resident, University of Houston College of Optometry
• Elizabeth Cho, OD, cornea & contact lens resident, Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University
• Amanda Dieu, OD, medical contact lens fellow, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University
• Jared Freedman, OD, cornea and contact lens resident, New England College of Optometry
• Marissa Gomez, OD, cornea & contact lens resident, Mid-Atlantic Cornea Consultants, York, PA
• Alyssa Invergo, OD, cornea & contact lens resident, Pacific University College of Optometry
• Liandra Jung, OD, primary care & contact lens resident, University of California, Berkeley
• Valerie Lam, OD, cornea and contact lens resident, Stein Family Cornea and Contact Lens Service, University Eye Center, Marshall B. Ketchum University
• Madison Moss, OD, cornea and contact lens resident, University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry
• Boris Wong, OD, cornea and contact lens resident, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON ■

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IN MEMORIAM

James A. Boucher

James A. Boucher, OD, MS, who practiced in Laramie, Wyoming, for 50 years and was inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame in 2012, passed away on Sept. 20 at the age of 83.

In private optometric practice in Laramie from 1966 to 2016, he retired from Snowy Range Vision Center, which he founded. Dr. Boucher specialized in cornea and contact lenses and in general practice.

Dr. Boucher served on several American Optometric Association (AOA) committees and chaired the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education, the Commission on Ophthalmic Standards, and task forces on long-range planning and Medicare. Past chair of the AOA’s Contact Lens & Cornea Section, he was a member of the AOA Board of Trustees from 1979 to 1982 and was named AOA Optometrist of the Year in 1978. He also was involved in the National Academies of Practice in Optometry; an award in his name—James A. Boucher Award of Excellence—is given to a National Academies of Practice Optometry Academy member who has demonstrated exemplary contributions to the profession of optometry and to the healthcare field and who has upheld the mission of the National Academies of Practice to advance science and the concept of interdisciplinary healthcare. Dr. Boucher also served 18 years on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Devices Panel as a member and consultant.

He also sponsored a pre-optometry scholarship at the University of Wyoming and taught at Indiana University, School of Optometry; Illinois College of Optometry; College of Optometry, University of Houston; Pacific University, College of Optometry; and the University of Wyoming.

Dr. Boucher is survived by his wife, Julie Uhlman, six children, and nine grandchildren. ■

Edward W. Merrill

Edward W. Merrill, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), passed away on Aug. 6 at the age of 96.

A longtime chemical engineer at MIT, Dr. Merrill was a founding contributor to the field of biological engineering. He developed the area of biomaterials and, over a 66-year career, pioneered several fields of bioengineering. Of note, in the 1950s and 1960s, he was the leading scientist in blood rheology; in the 1960s and 1970s, he was a pioneer in the development of the artificial kidney, analysis of its transport characteristics, and optimization of hemodialyzer membranes; and in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he made exceptional contributions in the development of hydrogels as biomaterials and in ionic or covalent heparinization techniques on polymer surfaces for antithrombogenic materials. In addition, in 1973, Dr. Merrill pioneered silicone-based contact lenses that became the basis of the hard, oxygen-permeable lens technology. He was the inventor of more than 40 U.S. patents and about 230 international patents.

He is survived by daughter Anne and son Frank Merrill and by grandchildren James, Sasha, and Julia Merrill. ■

INDUSTRY BRIEFS

• Contamac’s founder and chairman, John McGregor, has announced that he is retiring from his position, 34 years after he first produced a contact lens blank in his garden shed. In a virtual farewell video, he noted that Contamac will continue to be a family-focused business under the leadership of his son Robert, Contamac’s Managing Director, and Rob Lewis, its Operations Director. The team is completed by Simon Wyatt, the company’s Financial Director.
• The GlobalEyes podcast launched recently. Every month, it will feature a different specialist for a discussion of the status of the eyecare profession in his or her country. The inaugural episode, which originally aired on Sept. 15, featured Dr. Donald Ezekiel, a trailblazer in scleral lens development who now resides in Australia. GlobalEyes is available on Spotify or iTunes.
• Art Optical Contact Lens, Inc. announced the addition of Bruce Morgan, OD, to its executive leadership team. Dr. Morgan is a professor emeritus at the Michigan College of Optometry (MCO) at Ferris State University. Dr. Morgan will serve as executive director of Research & Clinical Support for Art Optical. In other news, Bethany Peebles has been promoted to executive director of Consultation Services at Art Optical Contact Lens, Inc. Ms. Peebles is responsible for daily departmental operations and for the development of seven additional certified fitting consultants. She will continue to serve as the onsite advisor for the MCO cornea and contact lens resident and will represent Art Optical at industry and educational events.
• Novartis has announced that Whitney Hauser, OD, will be joining the team as director, Peer Education for US Ophthalmics. In this capacity, Dr. Hauser will bring her experience as a professor, clinician, and founder of the Dry Eye Coach to help shape Novartis’ education and engagement strategy with the eyecare community, according to Novartis.
• BostonSight added three PROSE Provider sites and four PROSE Clinical Fellows to the BostonSight PROSE Network. With this addition, its PROSE Provider Network includes 18 sites in four countries. PROSE treatment teams include cornea specialist ophthalmologists and optometrists who have completed an intensive BostonSight PROSE Clinical Fellowship.
• SynergEyes, Inc. announced a new Application and Removal Training Resource for Duette hybrid lens wearers that the company says provides a one-stop-shop of valuable resources to help prepare patients for lens handling without the hands-on assistance from ODs or their technicians. SynergEyes is encouraging practices to direct patients to this new resource page (https://info.synergeyes.com/application-and-removal-resources ) prior to the lens dispense visit.
• Eaglet Eye announced that Tom Arnold, OD, has accepted a consulting position as Professional Ambassador. In this role, Dr. Arnold will be very involved in events and will be the “face and voice” of Eaglet in many of the informational pieces that Eaglet Eye will produce in the future.
• Bausch Health Companies Inc., Bausch + Lomb, and Eyenovia, Inc., announced that an affiliate of Bausch Health has acquired an exclusive license in the United States and Canada for the development and commercialization of an investigational microdose formulation of atropine ophthalmic solution, which is being investigated for the reduction of pediatric myopia progression in children ages 3 to 12 years.
• Commissioned by CooperVision as part of its Consumer Insight Series, results from a survey of more than 5,000 contact lens wearers has been incorporated into a new downloadable practice guide, Beyond Vision Correction: The Real Impact of Contact Lens Wear on Patients. It is available at coopervision.com/impact-contact-lens . Consumer opinions from Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, and the United States were represented in the work.

COVID-19 BRIEFS

• The Vision Council and Reed Exhibitions, organizers of Vision Expo, announced that Vision Expo East 2021, originally scheduled to take place from March 18 to 21, will now take place May 25 to 28, 2021 at the Javits Center in New York City. Additional details on Vision Expo East’s new neighborhoods, educational programming and special features will be announced in the coming months.
• CooperVision has launched a new program called “SiHy 1-Day: The Time is Now,” which begins with a series of webinars featuring practitioners who have already made this change in their practices. The webinars, originally held in October, are now available for on-demand viewing.
• PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) is supporting Eyoto, a spin-off from Aston University School of Optometry, to build its eMap product, an edge-to-edge, fully digitized, remotely accessible lens analysis system. The first product in Eyoto’s tele-optometry platform will allow an eyecare practitioner to conduct an eye examination from a remote location. The first machines will go into production by the end of 2020.
• The British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) has teamed up with Alcon to produce a series of videos detailing handy hints for making face coverings work better for you. The set of three videos, presented by critical care nurse Sally-Anne Bradbury and BCLA President, Indie Grewal, look at ways of resolving many of the issues associated with regular wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE). The videos have been specifically created to provide guidance for the benefit of all eyecare practitioners and those working within a practice environment. They are available via the BCLA website and on YouTube and can be downloaded to share in practice.