U2's Bono and Revo Team Up for a Vision Charity

"U2 frontman Bono has always been a vocal activist and supporter of charities meant to improve the world. Now, he’s launching a new campaign which will allow people to generously help those in need and look cool doing it," according to ET Online Yahoo!. "Bono teamed up with Revo eyewear to release a new, special line of shades! What’s more, Revo will donate profits from every pair sold to the Buy Vision, Give Sight campaign which, along with Revo’s partnership with the Brien Holden Vision Institute, is dedicated to preventing vision impairment and disease in over five million under served people across the world by 2020." Read more.

New Contact Lens Grade Scale for Free

Brien Holden Vision Institute has a new grading scales for monitoring common contact lens complications, and can be downloaded for free from our Academy website. You can download it for free at academy.brienholdenvision.org.

Myopia on the Rise Globally

Key scientists, researchers and clinical experts discussed the increasing prevalence of myopia and its visual, social and economic impact at a joint World Health Organization and Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) meeting. Health care experts reported that myopia is the leading cause of blindness in older people in Tajimi, Japan, and in Shanghai, China. A report from BHVI estimated that 5 billion people will have myopia in 2050, with almost a billion having high myopia. Professor Brien Holden said that “vision impairment and blindness was rising in children from uncorrected myopia and in adults from the pathological consequences of myopia later in life.” The participants also investigated the potential interventions. Dr Serge Resnikoff said that “a major contribution from the meeting was the definition and description of the retinal condition that causes blindness with myopia so that future surveys can accurately record the number of people with vision impairment and blindness from myopia.”

New Contact Lenses Being Developed

“Phase Focus Ltd. reports on how the Brien Holden Vision Institute is applying the Phasefocus high-precision lens profiler to assist in the development of new contact lenses. The Brien Holden Vision Institute is located at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia,” writes Novus Light. “The core business of the Brien Holden Vision Institute is to create new ways to improve vision outcomes for people whose sight is affected by refractive error. Collectively, the conditions of myopia, presbyopia, hyperopia and astigmatism (all regarded as ‘refractive errors’) impair the vision of billions of people worldwide. An area of particular interest for the Brien Holden Vision Institute is the use of novel optics with the potential to provide advanced modes of vision correction using contact lenses. The Phasefocus Lens Profiler is capable of accurately measuring power profiles of soft contact lenses. Those measurements are helping scientists to understand and improve the distribution of optical power over the lens surface.” Read more.

Looking for ODs to Teach/World Sight Day Challenge

VOSH/International and the Brien Holden Vision Institute Public Health Division are looking to build worldwide optometric education. So they--with the support of Optometry Giving Sight--are inviting North American ODs to serve as faculty and program development assistants in emerging optometric institutions. The group is seeking optometrists with an interest in the academia required for recently established optometry programs aimed at the delivery of eye care delivery in developing countries. The successful candidate will be required to assume the position for a minimum duration of two years (reviewable after year one) and relocate within a reasonable time once a position becomes available. VOSH/International will review applications with final selection and placement by the Brien Holden Vision Institute. Read more.

The initiative was announced as Optometry Giving Sight launched its annual World Sight Day Challenge.

WCO Awards Holden Distinguished Service Award

Yesterday the World Council of Optometry (WCO) recognized Professor Brien Holden for his 40-year career as a pioneer in contact lens development and eye health, and now a global leader of efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness and vision impairment. It gave him its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award (DSA). Holden is only the sixth DSA recipient. During his two score years, Holden created a social enterprise that has generated more than $1 billion in research, education and humanitarian funds. He has also worked in product development, helped provide eye care to those who do not have access, and gave almost 200 post-graduates a chance at research.

Professor Named Most Influential Optometrist

The University of Houston awarded Professor Brien Holden its honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. The Australian professor has been at the forefront of vision correction research for more than four decades, has been called “the most influential optometrist of our generation. ” Holden’s research focus has been in the area of vision correction and ocular health, in particular with contact lenses, spectacles and surgery. He has been a driving force behind the development of a number of lens products--most notably, the third generation of soft contact lenses to correct astigmatism and the highly oxygen permeable silicone hydrogel lenses.

His humanitarian efforts have helped to create organizations that build sustainable eye care systems in developing communities, including the International Centre for Eyecare Education, where he serves as CEO, and Optometry Giving Sight, of which he is executive chair. Under his direction, the Brien Holden Vision Institute was a founding partner and continues to be a major contributor to these organizations.

Scientists Break in Ft. Lauderdale to Discuss Vision Correction and Ocular Health

Does uncorrected refractive error affect the quality of our life? You might think there’s a simple answer to the question but for Nina Tahhan the question is highly complex.  At ARVO this week, Nina, from the International Centre for Eyecare Education and colleagues from the Brien Holden Vision Institute will be presenting their latest insights from research across a range of topics in vision correction and ocular health. Around 10 000 scientists have descended on Fort Lauderdale U.S. this week to exchange findings from the cutting-edge of research at the annual Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting – probably the biggest science meeting for people involved in eye and vision research.