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January 2024 Newsletter From ISPB & PBIL



Glaucoma Awareness Month

ISPB and PBIL are once again participating in January’s National Glaucoma Awareness Month to provide patients, care partners, and professionals with a variety of helpful resources to educate on glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. In addition to a dedicated webpage at PREVENTBLINDNESS.ORG/GLAUCOMA, we offer a variety of downloadable FACT SHEETS, including a listing of glaucoma financial assistance resources, shareable SOCIAL MEDIA GRAPHICS in English and Spanish, and EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS. These awareness month efforts are supported by funding from GLAUKOS.


Call for applications/nominations: 2024 Jenny Pomeroy and Rising Visionary Award

Prevent Blindness is requesting nominations and applications for the 2024 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health and the 2024 Rising Visionary Award. Please share with your colleagues and partners. The deadline is Monday, February 5th at noon ET. Contact Nita Sinha with any questions.

Community Happenings

Our staff, team of interns, and volunteers provide eye health education and outreach at all types of community events – including health fairs, presentations and screenings!

We will be continuing our efforts during these dates:

January 18, 2024
1:00pm – Embrace Living Community Presentation: Chicago, IL

February 24, 2024
10:00am – Boys + Girls Club Health Fair: Chicago, IL

March 25, 2024
1:00pm -Waukegan Township Presentation: Waukegan, IL

April 30, 2024
1:00pm – Centennial Activity Center Presentation: Park Ridge, IL

For more information, please contact rbarraza@preventblindness.org


NASEM Study on Myopia

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) are conducting a consensus study (“Focus on Myopia – Pathogenesis and Rising Incidence”) that will consider various aspects related to the global increase in myopia. The goals of the study are to assess the current mechanistic understanding of myopia pathogenesis and causes of its increased prevalence, to identify knowledge gaps and barriers to progress, and to develop a research agenda aimed at better understanding the biological and environmental factors that could explain its increasing incidence. 

Last month, Donna Fishman, Director of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health, joined the Center’s Co-Chair, Dr. Megan Collins of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, in testifying before a workshop on the rise of myopia that will contribute to this study. You can view a recording of their testimony and the full workshop here.


Congratulations to Dr. Andrea Arteaga for her published study, Metalloproteinase-9 on the Ocular Aruface of Patients with Implanted Boston Type 1 Keratoprosthesis. Andrea is a former ISPB Grant Recipient. Great job!

The study can be found HERE


Copyright © 2017 Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness

Contact Us
Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness | https://eyehealthillinois.org/
Prevent Blindness Illinois https://preventblindness.org/contact-us/




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