Prevent Blindness seeking nominees for 2022 Prevent Blindness Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health, and Rising Visionary Award

for Excellence in Vision and Public Health and the third annual Rising Visionary Award.

The deadline for submissions is noon ET on Feb. 4.

Both the awards will be formally presented at the 11th Annual Prevent Blindness Focus on Eye Health National Summit, to be held virtually on July 13-14, 2022. An all-volunteer committee will review all nominations and select the award recipients.

The award recipients or representatives (if a group or organization) must be available to present (virtually) at the 2022 Focus on Eye Health National Summit.

Jenny Pomeroy

The Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health recognizes an individual, group, or organization that has made significant contributions to the advancement of public health related to vision and eye health at the community, state, national, and/or international level.

According to the organization, the award serves as a living memorial to Jenny Pomeroy, who was the CEO of Prevent Blindness Georgia from 1996 until 2013, and a strong advocate for the advancement of public health and policy for vision and eye health issues.

In 2021, the Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health was awarded to R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MSc, MBA, FACS, professor and head, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The John H. Panton, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, director, Pediatric Retina and ROP Service at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).

Past award recipients include the Children’s Vision Rehabilitation Program (CVRP) at West Virginia University (2020); Cynthia Owsley, PhD, MSPH, Nathan E. Miles Chair of Ophthalmology and director of the Clinical Research Unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (2019); the Johns Hopkins University School-Based Eye Care Team (2018); John E. Crews, DPA, retired from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017); Bruce Moore, OD, retired from the New England College of Optometry (2016); and Richard T. Bunner, retired from the Ohio Department of Public Health (2015).

The third annual Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award is presented annually to an optometry, ophthalmology, primary health care, nursing, or other health professional student or resident in the United States who has the best overall application and essay addressing the 2022 Focus on Eye Health National Summit theme: Eye-conic Approaches to Eye Health.

The 2021 Rising Visionary Award recipient was Shervonne Poleon, Vision Science Graduate Program student, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). And, the 2020 recipient was Araba Otoo, an optometry student at The Ohio State University.

“Prevent Blindness is honored to recognize individuals and organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to eye and vision health,” Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said in a statement. “If you or someone you know is creating positive change in the vision health of the public, we encourage you to submit a nomination or application today.”

For more information on the Prevent Blindness Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health, please visit https://preventblindness.org/jenny-pomeroy-award-for-excellence-in-vision-and-public-health/. Information on the Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award may be found at https://preventblindness.org/rising-visionary-award/.

For additional information, contact Nita Sinha, director of Public Health, at 800-331-2020 or by email to npatelsinha@preventblindness.org.