Winners of ARVO ‘describe your research’ contest named

Orlando-The top three winning descriptions-answering the challenge posed by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) for members of the eye and vision research community to explain their research to a 12-year-old child in one or two sentences-were announced during the opening ARVO/Alcon Keynote session.

ARVO President Justine R. Smith, FRANZCO, PhD, FARVO, selected the three winning entries:

1st place 

"Just as waste builds up if we don't take out the garbage each week, trash can build up in the back of some people's eyes as they get older, causing loss of vision in a disease called macular degeneration. I'm interested in understanding why some eyes take out the trash and others refuse to, and how we can trick garbage-filled eyes into cleaning up their mess." 

-Jason Miller, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan - RC Section

2nd place 

"To see tiny things you look through a magnifying glass, and to see really tiny things you look through a microscope. I’m building an eye microscope to let the doctors see those really tiny things inside your eye." 

-Kari Vienola, Rotterdam Ophthalmic Institute - EY Section

3rd place 

"Some people suffer from a disease called keratoconus where the eye changes from a smooth soccer ball shape to a pointy football shape. I have written some computer programs that help scan the eyes and find patients with this problem to help them sooner and keep their eyes in good shape."

-Irene Ruiz Hidalgo, Antwerp University Hospital, VI Section

The contest was held as part of ARVO’s strategic plan to increase members’ effectiveness in communicating clearly on behalf of global vision research to the public, to help ensure strong government funding and favorable regulations for research.

Prizes included: 1st place, $250 gift voucher for Amazon.com and complimentary registration for ARVO 2015 in Denver; 2nd and 3rd places, $150 gift voucher for Amazon.com. To view the top 50 entries, click here.