Groups honor B&L, employees for research

The National Organization for Rare Disorders Inc. (NORD) presented its Corporate Achievement Award to the company for developing Retisert, an intravitreal drug implant that treats chronic non-infectious uveitis in the posterior segment. The group said the drug implant makes "a significant contribution for improving the lives of people affected by rare diseases."

"NORD salutes Bausch & Lomb for developing this innovative drug-delivery therapy to treat people suffering from this chronic, severe blinding disease," Abbey S. Meyers, NORD president, said in an Aug. 1 statement. The inflammatory condition, which afflicts people ages 20 to 50, affects about 175,000 people in the United States and about 800,000 people worldwide.

Dr. Borazjani, a Bausch & Lomb research fellow, won in the "senior investigator" category for her work in creating new technology and formulations for contact lens care products. Dr. Quenville, director of vision care research and development programs, won in the "career achievement" category for her contributions to new product development in contact lens care.

Meanwhile, Dr. Xia, a Bausch & Lomb research fellow, was honored for his work in developing key contact lens-care products and new formulations to treat dry eye and other eye diseases. A native of Nanjing, China, he holds more than 50 issued or pending patents.

Drs. Borazjani, Quenville, and Xia will be honored Sept. 16 at the Minorities in Research Science Conference in Baltimore.