Past Conference Website - Archive
April 1st and 2nd, 2006
Yale University
Linsly Chittenden Hall, 63 High Street
New Haven, CT 06520
Unite For Sight's Third Annual International Health Conference will convene more than 800 people from throughout the world who are interested in international service, global health, public health, and medicine. This empowering, energizing conference brings together student leaders and activists, doctors, public health professionals, nurses, Peace Corp Volunteers, and others. The conference's goal is to inform the public about health divides and empower them to develop solutions to improve access to care for the medically underserved.
- Join over 800 leaders and professionals from across the world
- Participate in plenary sessions and breakout workshops
Conference Brochure
2006 Conference Supporter
Saturday, April 1, 2006
8:00-8:30 am
Welcoming Remarks (Room 102)
Jennifer Staple, Founder, President & CEO
8:30-9:15 am
Keynote Address (Room 102)
"Environment, Behavior and Health: Societies Matter"Al Sommer, MD, MHS, Dean Emeritus of the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
Sessions at 9:20-10:45 am
Global Health and Development (Room 101)
"Global Health Governance in a Time of Rapid Change: Opportunities and Concerns"Derek Yach, MBChB, MPH, Director, Health Equity, Rockefeller Foundation
"Workforce Development--the Foundation for Global Health Gains,"Bjorg Palsdottir, MPA
"Solar Powered Hearing Aids for the Developing World,"Irwin Stewart, MD, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
Vision2020 and Global Eye Care Needs (Room 102)
"Update on Vision 2020: the Right to Sight,"Louis Pizzarello, MD, Secretary-General, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
Once I Was Blind....The Challenges of Eye Care in Ghana,James Clarke, MD, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana
"Eye Care Services in Northern Region, Ghana: The Role of NGOs,"Seth Wanye, MD, The Eye Clinic of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana
A Vision of Possibilities (Room 211)
"A Vision of Possibilities: Merging Clinical and Public Health Perspectives in Ocular Health,"Rohit Ramchandani, MPH
"Encouraging Vision Screenings for School Children,"Samuel Baharestani, MD Candidate, NYU School of Medicine
"Biomedical Photojournalism: Documenting International Eye Care with your Digital Camera,"Patrick J. Saine. M.Ed., CRA
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Sessions at 10:50am-12:45pm
Strategies in Global Health (Room 101)
"Community Approaches to Achieve Global Health Goals,"Jacob Kumaresan, MD, MPH, Dr.PH, President, International Trachoma Initiative
"Global Health at the Community Level - Eye Health As Part of Improved Public Health Outreach,"Nora Groce, PhD, Associate Professor & Director, Global Health Division, Yale School of Public Health
"Teaching the Teachers: Empowering Refugee Communities Through School-Based Education,"Valda Ford, MPH, MS, RN, University of Nebraska Medical Center
"The Corporation/Community Health Interface in Africa,"Rebecca Hardin, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Anthropology Department and School for Natural Resources and Environment
Eye Care Delivery in Africa (Room 102)
"Blindness Prevention in Africa: A Development Perspective,"Kovin Naidoo, BSc, BOptomOD, MPH, Director International Centre for Eyecare Education in Africa
"Health Care in Zambia Through the Eyes of an American Ophthalmologist,"Thomas J. Beggins, MD, Former Medical Director and Surgeon, Lusaka Eye Hospital, Zambia
"Strengths and Challenges of Mobile Eye Surgery Delivery in Rural Kenya,"Sam Powdrill, PA, SPA, Assistant Professor, Physician Assistant Program at University of Kentucky, Lexington
"Strategic Planning For Trachoma Control in Nine Endemic Countries,"A. Sam-Abbenyi, MD, MSc, Director, Program Planning & Analysis, International Trachoma Initiative
Variety of Ideas in the Nonprofit Sector (Room 103)
"Nonprofit Sector and Youth Movement in Armenia,"Lilit Simonyan, MPA Candidate; Founder, Former CEO, International Director, Stepanavan Youth Center NGO Armenia
"Psycho-social Support for Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa through Laughter - a Clown's Perspective,"Jamie McLaren Lachman, Project Njabulo Director, Clowns Without Borders
"Building Research Capacity in Pakistan: Effectiveness of an Epidemiology Training Workshop Taught by Traditional Class-Room and Video Teleconferencing Methods,"Sunita Dodani, MD, FCPS, MSc, University of Pittsburgh
"Visioning Tibet - A Film" (Room 208)
Eye Care Needs in Asia (Room 211)
"Eye Care in India - A Bird's Eye View,"Vadudev Kanade, MD, St. Raphael's Hospital
"The Vision Aid Experiment: A Vision Rehabilitation and Low Vision Enhancement Center in India,"Ram Raju, ME, Computer Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
"Eye Care in Chennai, India,"Naeha Quasba, University of Maryland Student
"Experiences in the Unite For Sight 2005 Summer China Program,"Alishia Chan, OD Candidate, New England College of Optometry
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Lunch: 12:45pm-1:40pm
Sessions at 1:45pm-3:10pm
The Health of Women and Children: A Global Overview (Room 101)
"Transforming Health Systems: The Key to Maternal Mortality Reduction,"Lynn P. Freedman, JD, MPH, Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University
"Strengthening Capacity for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health,"Charles MacCormack, President, Save The Children
"Gender Disparities in Blindness and Visual Impairment" Ilene Gipson, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School; Chair, Women's Eye Health Task Force Executive Committee
Global Eye Care Needs and Community Strategies (Room 102)
"Community Strategies To Improve Eye Care,"Satya B. Verma, OD, Pennsylvania College of Optometry
"WCO Fellowship with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the Karenni Refugee Camp - The Karenni R.A.R.E. Study,"Derek Mladenovich, OD, Adjunct Faculty, Center for International Studies, Pennsylvania College of Optometry
"Social Entrepreneurship and Presbyopia" Graham Macmillan, MS, Director, Scojo Foundation
Health Care Needs in Refugee Camps (Room 103)
"The Life of a Refugee - Education, Health Care, and Other Things That Are Missing,"Julie Harris, PhD, The Larvol Group
"Glaucoma at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana," Sally Ong, Duke University Student
"The Prevalence and Causes of Visual Complications in Gulu, Northern Uganda"Kenneth Daniel, MD Candidate, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
Global Health Through Film (Room 208)
"Back to Basics, Rx for Survival - Global Health PBS Series"
Lessons from India and Mexico (Room 211)
"Lok Swasthya Sewa, a Model Health Cooperative in Ahmedabad, India."Chirag Shah, MD, MPH, Wills Eye Hospital
"Community Ophthalmology Needs in Bihar, India,"Anna Cooper, MPH Candidate, University of Rochester School of Public Health
"Determinants of Compliance with Spectacle Wear in School-Aged Mexican Children",Nita Patel, OD, MPH, Program Manager of Eye Health, Helen Keller International
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Sessions at 3:15pm-4:15pm
Cookies and Coffee Sponsored by The Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs of Connecticut and Tissue Banks International
Examining River Blindness (Room 101)
"Public-Private Partnership as a Strategy for Addressing Global Health Issues: Lessons Learned from The Mectizan Donation Program,"Brenda Colatrella, MBA, Senior Director, Office of Contributions, Merck & Co. Inc
"Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) and Oncho Control in Nigeria,"Jeffrey S. Watson, MS, Director of Overseas Operations, Christian Blind Mission International - USA
Unite For Sight Worldwide (Room 102)
"An Eye Opener in Chennai, India - A Unite For Sight Film"
Unite For Sight International Volunteer Opportunities Information Session - A Discussion with Unite For Sight Coordinators Dr. James Clarke (Ghana), Dr. Seth Wanye (Ghana), and Dr. T. Senthil (India)
Vision Research (Room 211)
"Rhino-orbito-cerebral Mucormycosis,"Chirag Shah, MD, MPH, Wills Eye Hospital
"Age-Related Eye Diseases Study (AREDS): Past Findings and Current Efforts, and How it Relates to Public Health."Lynn L. Huang, MPH, MD Candidate, CRTP Fellow, NIH-National Eye Institute
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Sessions at 4:20-5:45 pm
Pediatric AIDS, The Orphan Crisis, and Health Promotion (Room 101)
"The Challenges of Pediatric AIDS in Africa - A Lesson in Hope and Humanity"Shaffiq Essajee, BMBCh (Doctorate of Medicine), Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine
"Child Health and the Orphan Crisis in Rwanda,"Dai Ellis, JD Candidate, Co-Director of Orphans of Rwanda
"Philosophies of Care - Empowering Communities,"Cliff O'Callahan, MD, PhD, Middlesex Hospital Family Practice Program
Perspectives on Eye Health in India (Room 102)
"Unite For Sight in Chennai, India," Walid Mangal, DO Candidate, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
"Mobile Eye Services in the Indian Himalaya,"Keith Tauro
"Eye Outreach in Bihar, India - A Film By AB Eye Institute, A Unite For Sight Partner"
An Eye Opener in Chennai, India - A Unite For Sight Film (repeated every 30 minutes - Room 208)
Refractive Error Worldwide Needs (Room 211)
"Estimates of Functional Blindness and Impaired Vision due to Uncorrected Refractive Error,"Nina Tahhan, B. Optom, International Centre for Eyecare Education
"How Can We Correct Vision For Very Large and Under-Served Populations - An Approach Using a New Technology,"Joshua Silver, PhD, Professor of Physics, Oxford University
"Community-Based, Self-Sustaining, Easy-to-Replicate InFOCUS Vision Stations: Helping to Meet an Increasing Need for Primary Vision Care, Head-On"Ian B. Berger, M.D., M.P.H. Dr.PH, Founding President, InFOCUS
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
6:00-7:15pm
Benefit Concert and Reception With Hors D'Oeuvres (Room 102) Separate Registration Required
Sunday, April 2, 2006
Sessions at 9:00am-10:25am
Vision and Clinical Research (Room 101)
"Advances In Corneal Transplantation,"Shachar Tauber, MD, Director of Ophthalmology Research, Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, St. John's Hospital and Clinics
"Nutritional Factors in the Development of Cataracts," Heskel M. Haddad, MD, New York Medical College
"The Ethics Behind Clinical Research in Developing Nations,"Matthew D. Paul, MD, Danbury Eye Physicians and Surgeons
An Overview of Global Eye Care Needs (Room 102)
"Barriers to Eye Care: Results of Qualitative Research," Robert Alexander,MPH, PhD, National Eye Institute
"Challenges and Successes of Surgical Eye Care in Africa,"Cathy Schanzer, MD, Medical Director and Chief Surgeon, Southern Eye Associates
"Building the Future of International Ophthalmology: SEE International/George Washington University International Residency Program Model,"Harry S. Brown, MD, Founder, President & CEO, Surgical Eye Expeditions International
An Eye Opener in Chennai, India - A Unite For Sight Film (repeated every 30 minutes - Room 208)
Community-Based Healthcare (Room 211)
"Small Initiatives with Big Vision: Working With Communities to Change How They Address Healthcare,"Viviana Renella, Community Programs Manager, Child Family Health International
"Fonkoze: Providing Financial and Educational Services to Haiti's Poor"Sharmi Sobhan, Fonkoze
"A Study of the Incidence of Caries in Rural Guatemala,"Phillip Plunk, DDS, FADI, Founder of Project Salud y Paz
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Sessions at 10:30am-11:25am
Unite For Sight in India (Room 101)
"Visioning Tibet - A Film"
"An Eye Opener in Chennai, India - A Unite For Sight Film"
Obstetric Fistula - In Depth (Room 102)
"Love, Labor, Loss," Film on Obstetric Fistula, Lisa Russell, MPH, Filmmaker
Panel Discussion on Obstetric Fistula
The Lions Club and Rotary (Room 211)
"Rotary Club and Eye Care,"Ken Tuck, MD, Past President of American Academy of Ophthalmology
"Special Olympics Lions Clubs International Opening Eyes,"Sandra S. Block, OD, Illinois College of Optometry
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Sessions at 11:30am-12:50pm
Glaucoma Angles and Approaches: A Worldwide Perspective (Room 101)
"Glaucoma Care in West Africa: the Ghana Experience"Leon W. Herndon, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Duke University Eye Center
"The EyeCare America Glaucoma EyeCare Program: Improving Health for the Medically Underserved in the US"Martin Wand, MD, Chairman, American Academy of Ophthalmology National Glaucoma Project
"Glaucoma Screening in a High Risk Population of New Haven,"Bruce Shields, MD, Chair, Yale Department of Ophthalmology
Aravind Eye Care System of Sustainability (Room 102)
"Infinite Vision - The Story of Dr. V(enkataswamy) and the Aravind Eye Care System,"Pavithra Krishnan, Filmmaker
"High Volume Cataract Surgery at Aravind Eye Hospital - A Film By Dr. Venkatesh, Aravind Eye Hospital, A Unite For Sight Partner"
Eye Care Delivery (Room 103)
"Educational Interventions for a Vision Rehabilitation Program in Vietnam,"Daniel C. Schainholz, MD
"Delivery of Ophthalmic Care in Dushanbe, Tajikistan," Mehdi Ghajarnia, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Eye Center
"Pediatric Vision Screening in the Pediatric Office Setting,"Jeff Todd, MS, JD, Vice President Programs & Public Health, Prevent Blindness America
An Eye Opener in Chennai, India - A Unite For Sight Film (repeated every 30 minutes - Room 208)
Perspectives on Women's Health (Room 211)
"Is Women's Health a Human Right?"Padmini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Practice,New York Medical College School of Public Health
"Preventing and Managing Obstetric Fistula in East Africa: Lessons from Ethiopia and Tanzania,"Toyin Ajayi, MD Candidate, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine, UK
"Exploring Reproductive and Sexual Health with Liberian Refugee Women," Rena Patel, MPhil, BA, MD Candidate, Stanford School of Medicine
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Lunch: 1:00pm-1:40pm
Sessions at 1:45pm-3:10pm
Glaucoma Angles and Approaches (Room 101)
"What is Glaucoma?"Syril Dorairaj, MD, Glaucoma Service at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary
"Volunteerism and Glaucoma Screenings,"Roger W. Martin, Allergan/Lumigan Glaucoma Screening Activist
Medical Diplomacy (Room 102)
"Health as a Bridge to Peace,"Paula Gutlove, DMD, Deputy Director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies
"War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival,"Sheri Fink, MD, PhD
"Lessons from the Camps: Why You Should Not Hug the Monk and other Faux Pas,"Valda Ford, MPH, MS, RN, University of Nebraska Medical Center
"Visioning Tibet - A Film" (Room 208)
Infectious Disease in Discussion (Room 211)
"Eyes, AIDS, and Africa,"Thomas J. Beggins, MD, Former Medical Director and Surgeon, Lusaka Eye Hospital, Zambia
"Germs of Progress: Schistosomiasis in Senegal and the Ethics, Politics and Economics of International Health, Research and Development,"Kohar Jones, MD, Middlesex Family Practice Program
"Diagnosing Severe Malaria - Translating Scientific Advances to Rural Communities,"Richard Bucala, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
Session at 3:15-4:15pm
Himalayan Cataract Project National Geographic Film - Eye Camps in Remote Nepal (Room 101)
Experience the laughter and emotional relief that Clowns Without Borders provides to children in areas of crisis around the world. Performance followed by experiential workshop. (Room 102)
Eye Care and Education (Room 208)
"Peace Pals Education Network in Sierra Leone," Alex P. Columbus and Sarah Davies, Peace Pals Education Network, Sierra Leone
"River Blindness in Taiama, Sierra Leone,"Beth Dickinson, Yale University Student
International Development Jobs (Room 211)
"Workshop: Applying For International Development Jobs", Patrick Shields, Global Recruitment Specialists
Informal Networking and Discussion (Rooms 212 and 213)
Poster Presentations and Exhibits (Rooms 203-206)
3:15-5:15pm
Lion's Club/Yale Ophthalmology Department Glaucoma Screening on the New Haven Green - Take A Few Minutes To Get A Glaucoma Screening
Poster Presentations and Exhibits: Rooms 203-206 - April 1st and April 2nd
Biographies of Speakers
Toyin Ajayi, MD Candidate, Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' School of Medicine, UK
Toyin Ajayi is a medical student at King's College London. She has recently completed internships at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia and the Women's Dignity Project in Tanzania, focusing on strategies to effectively manage and prevent obstetric fistula. Prior to beginning medical school, she completed a Master's degree in International Development at Cambridge University, where she wrote a dissertation focusing on the socio-economic determinants of maternal morbidity in Africa and Asia. Toyin is passionate about maternal health in sub-Saharan Africa, and plans to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology.
Samuel Baharestani, MD Candidate, NYU School of Medicine
Samuel Baharestani, Unite For Sight's Executive Vice President, is currently a third-year MD candidate in the Honors Program at New York University School of Medicine. He is a Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude graduate of the College of Arts and Science at New York University. Graduating in January of 2003, he received his Bachelor of Arts with Honors in Biology, including minors in Economics and Chemistry. His research on angiogenesis and wound healing in The Laboratory of Microvascular Research and Vascular Tissue Engineering at NYU Medical Center has been presented nationally at The Plastic Surgery Research Council, Wound Healing Society's Annual Meeting, and Harvard Medical School's New England Science Symposium with publications in the Plastic Surgery and Experimental Biology literature. Samuel's previous work in Ophthalmology includes serving as the Clinical Research/Surgical Coordinator for the Artisan Phakic IOL implant Phase III FDA research study at Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital in New York and as a Research Associate with Glaucoma Associates of New York under the direction of Unite For Sight Medical Advisory Board Member, Dr. Robert Ritch. A recipient of the Glorney-Raisbeck Medical Student Grant in Cardiovascular Research from the New York Academy of Medicine and the Fight For Sight Student Fellowship, he will continue his research on angiogenesis throughout medical school at Bellevue Hospital in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Thomas J. Beggins, MD, Former Medical Director and Surgeon, Lusaka Eye Hospital, Zambia
Tom recently returned from Lusaka, Zambia where he served as the Medical Director and Surgeon at the Lusaka Eye Hospital. The newly built hospital, which is supported by CBMI and the WHO, is the only eye hospital in Zambia. Tom is the Senior Attending Physician at his private practice in Middletown, CT. The practice he started in 1991 has expanded to include two partners and one retinal specialist. Tom also serves as the Senior Attending Surgeon at Constitution Eye Surgery Center in Newington, CT and the Senior Attending Ophthalmic Surgeon at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, CT.
Tom attended medical school at New York Medical College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University. Tom completed an internship in Internal Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, NY. He performed his residency in Ophthalmology at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York, NY where he was also the chief resident. While Tom was in Lusaka, he spent two weeks at Kikuyu Eye Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya performing retinal surgeries so that he could offer this type of surgery that was previously not available in Zambia.
Tom's volunteer work also includes supporting the Clinic, Notre Dame de Lourdes in Port-au-Prince, Haiti where he has organized and established an ophthalmic surgical and clinical facility; managed the financing and fundraising for business and medical operations and performed surgeries. This is an ongoing project that employs a local, Haitian ophthalmologist to care for blind and visually impaired Haitians who cannot afford health care. Tom has worked as an eye surgeon in Anshan City, China; Mombassa, Kenya (with CBMI) and the Dominican Republic.
Ian B. Berger, M.D., M.P.H. Dr.PH, Founding President of InFOCUS
Ian B. Berger is the founding President of InFOCUS (Interprofessional Fostering of Ophthalmic Care for Underserved Sectors) and director of the InFOCUS Center for Primary Eye Care Development. Educated at the Rockefeller University, Yale and the Univesrsity of Texas in biophysics, medicine and public health, Berger is an adjunct Professor (International Health, Infectious Disease) at the University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, a Visiting Associate Professor of Community and International Health at the University of Houston, and Senior Lecturer (Preventive Medicine and Ophthalmology) at the Tumaini University School of Medicine in Moshi, Tanzania. For over 30 years Berger has worked with governments, universities and health organizations in rural America and throughout the world to foster community-based health care initiatives.
Berger was instrumental in founding the River Blindness Foundation and served as Director of Community Eye Care for ORBIS International. Berger has held leadership roles in the American Public Health Association, chairs the Committee on International Health, Vision Care Section, and currently is Chair of the Vision Care Section. He is an honorary Fellow of both the American and Tanzanian Academies of Optometry, in recognition of his work with primary eye care development for developing nations.
Sandra S. Block, OD, Illinois College of Optometry
Dr. Sandra S. Block is a 1981 graduate from the Illinois College of Optometry. After graduation she completed a residency in Pediatrics and Binocular Vision. Upon completion of her residency, she became a full time educator at the Illinois College of Optometry. Currently, she is a professor in the Pediatric / Binocular Vision Service. Dr. Block received her Master of Education degree from National Louis University in 1988. She is currently working on a Ph D in Epidemiology and Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois - Chicago. She has been involved in the Special Olympic Healthy Athlete Initiative since 1995 and is currently a Global Clinical Advisor in charge of Research and Education for the Special Olympic Lions Club International Opening Eyes Program (SOLCIOE). SOLCIOE conducts vision screening and serves to education athletes, coaches and parents around the world with the intent to provide eye care professional with experience of current evaluation techniques and an opportunity to use these new skills and make participants aware of the need for eye care services for people with disabilities.
Dr. Block has recently been involved with an international group of health care providers to the develop an educational eye care program to assess the vision persons with intellectual. The program is available in a 4 hour version for optometry students and ophthalmology residents and a 2 hour version for practicing clinical. The objective of this program is to develop more providers willing and comfortable to provide eye care for this population. The DVD is available at no cost to any eye care provider in an attempt to reduce the lack of access that these patients have to eye care services.
Harry S. Brown, MD, Founder, President and CEO of Surgical Eye Expeditions
Dr. Harry Brown is Founder, President, and CEO of Surgical Eye Expeditions (SEE) International, a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides medical, surgical, and educational services by volunteer ophthalmic surgeons with the primary objective of restoring sight to disadvantaged blind individuals worldwide. He founded the organization in 1974 to mobilize volunteer eye surgeons to donate their time and talents, and there are currently more than 700 eye surgeons involved with SEE.
For his commitment to humanitarian service, Dr. Brown has been honored with the International President Award-Lions International, a tribute by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Lifetime Achievement Award, Santa Barbara News-Press, the Community Service Award, George Washington University Alumni Association, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award, the Leslie Dana Gold Medal Award, St. Louis Society for the Blind & Visually Impaired, and the Outstanding Achievements in the Prevention of Blindness & Services to Those Who are Blind.
Richard Bucala, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine
Dr. Bucala is Professor of Medicine and Pathology at Yale University School of Medicine. His lab seeks to understand the mechanisms by which host immunity converts from a protective response to one producing disease and tissue pathology. He has initiated studies of MIF's role in the development of severe malarial anemia. While anemia is frequently a feature of chronic inflammation and infection, it has been identified to be the proximate cause of death in almost half of the 3-4 million malarial deaths that occur annually. Bone marrow progenitor cells become resistant to the action of erythropoietin during malaria infection, and he has uncovered a molecular pathway by which MIF interferes with erythro-poietin signal transduction. He collaborates closely with the Macha Mission Hospital in Zambia to study the clinical frequency of Mif polymorphisms in an effort to understand why fatal anemia develops in certain children but not in others.
Alishia Chan, OD Candidate, New England College of Optometry
Alishia Chan is a first year optometry student at New England College of Optometry. She received her Bachelor of Sciences degree from University of California Davis with a major in biological sciences and a minor in leadership studies. Alishia participated in Unite For Sight's program in China during Summer 2005 and called her experience "the most memorable summer in my life."
James Clarke, MD, Crystal Eye Clinic, Ghana
Dr James Afful Clarke graduated from the University of Ghana Medical School with an MBChB. After a year of internship at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, he worked as a General Practitioner and did a General Surgery Residency at the University of Saarland Medical Faculty, Germany and thereafter practiced as a general surgeon in Ghana. In 1996, he obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Ophthalmology from the West African Postgraduate Medical College and has since been practicing as an ophthalmology. He also holds a Diploma in Community Health and Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in Berlin, Germany.
Dr. Clarke has done various clinical attachments at the University of Saarland Eye Clinic in Germany, Wake Forest Eye Center, Winston-Salem in North Carolina, Wheaton Eye Clinic in Chicago, and is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He now runs an eye clinic in Accra, Ghana, where he provides outreach services in eye care and provides various surgical procedures, including corneal transplantation. He is the only ophthalmologist providing corneal transplantation in Ghana. Dr. Clarke is also a member of Unite For Sight's Medical Advisory Board and works closely with Unite For Sight's volunteers in Ghana.
Brenda Colatrella, MBA, Senior Director, Office of Contributions, Merck & Co. Inc
Brenda Colatrella is senior director, Office of Contributions, for Merck & Co., Inc. She is the author of numerous articles on public/private partnerships and has served on the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations, which is a coalition of pharmaceutical companies and private voluntary organizations dedicated to raising the standards for product donations globally. She previously led Merck's Worldwide Product Donations Policy and Programs and directed the Merck Mectizan® Donation Program to treat river blindness and prevent lymphatic filariasis. She also directed worldwide donations of Merck pharmaceutical and vaccine products.
She earned a B.A. degree from Muhlenberg College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School of Business where she was recipient of the Dean's Award.
Anna Cooper, MPH Candidate, University of Rochester School of Public Health
Anna Cooper is a Master's of Public Health candidate at the University of Rochester. During the past few years, she has focused her attention in neuroscience and mental health issues. As a result of her studies, she has developed an interest in the field of epidemiology. In January of 2006, Anna founded the Rochester Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) with the impact of raising suicide prevention awareness in the Rochester community. AFSP sponsors research on suicide and prevention efforts through Community Awareness Walks and seminars. Anna obtained her Bachelor's of Science in Biochemistry and Philosophy from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. After working on the neurobiology of depression and suicide at Columbia University in New York, she spent June of 2005 as a volunteer for Unite for Sight in Bihar, India. The experience of working with Bihar's underserved communities underscored the importance of increasing public health awareness and solidified public health as her career path. Anna also finds joy in maintaining her lifelong passions of playing ice hockey and singing.
Kenneth Daniel, MD Candidate, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China
Kenneth is from Busia District in Uganda. He is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree at Peking University Health Science Center in Beijing, China. He also attended Beijing Language University, where he took a certificate course in Mandarin. He is considering specializing in neurology or public health after his degree.
Kenneth is actively involved in a number of AIDS prevention campaigns and programs. He is currently spearheading a new chapter of Unite For Sight at Makerere University in Uganda to extend and implement eye health education programs to communities and schools in Uganda and East Africa. He is very interested in community service and healthcare for medically underserved people.
Beth Dickinson, Yale University Student
Beth Dickinson is a junior at Yale University, majoring in African and International Studies. She was a Unite For Sight volunteer in the rural Moyamba District of Sierra Leone during Summer 2005. At Yale, Beth is the Editor in Chief of Yale's undergraduate international affairs publication, The Yale Globalist. She also participates as a violinist in the Yale Symphony Orchestra and in Yale's chamber music program. In the future, Beth hopes to pursue a career in humanitarian service and/or international journalism, focusing on West Africa.
Syril Dorairaj, MD, Glaucoma Service at New York Eye & Ear Infirmary
Dr. Syril K. Dorairaj is the Director of Ultrasound Biomicroscopy Laboratory in Glaucoma Services at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary. He received his M.D. from Minto Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, India and has worked in the area of Ophthalmic Genetics at the Indian Institute of Science for two years. He is the Executive Director of Lindbergh Society founded for research into Exfoliation Syndrome. He has authored numerous scientific papers and presented at national and international conferences including American Academy of Ophthalmology on Glaucoma Genetics. Working with Dr. Robert Ritch, Dr. Dorairaj is co-authoring the Association of International Glaucoma Society Consensus-2006 on Medical and Laser Management of Angle Closure.
Dai Ellis, JD Candidate, Co-Director of Orphans of Rwanda
Dai Ellis is a student at Yale Law School where he is studying international law, health policy, and intellectual property. On the side, he serves as a Project Manager at the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative, focusing on price reductions for essential AIDS medicines. Dai also co-directs Orphans of Rwanda (www.orphansofrwanda.org), a non-profit that provides support to talented students in Rwanda - orphans and other vulnerable children -- who have graduated from high school and would otherwise lack the means to pursue a university education.
Prior to law school, he worked at McKinsey and Company for several years before joining the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at Columbia University under Dr. Jeffrey Sachs. Dai's work at Columbia took him to Rwanda, where he spent a year working as the advisor to the Executive Director of the National AIDS Commission and helping to implement a national HIV/AIDS testing and treatment program.
Sunita Dodani, MD, FCPS, MSc, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Dodani earned her MBBS from The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan and MD from University of Colorado, Denver in 1996. She is also a fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. In addition, she was awarded a Master of Science degree in Clinical Epidemiology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; and is in the final stages of completing her Ph.D. in Epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health. In addition to her formal education, Dr. Dodani has more than ten years of research experience and eleven years of teaching experience. She has served as the Director of Research, Assistant Professor and many other titles in the past. She is a member of several national and international organizations and severs on several international journal review boards.
Dr. Dodani has extensive expertise and an international reputation in the field of the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease. She has developed a network of South Asian scientists called SAHPA (South Asian Health Preventionists Association). Under her leadership, SAHPA has conduct research training workshops in South Asian and other developing countries to build Research capacity. Dr. Dodani is an international leader in the area of the epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease and preventive medicine. She has been evaluating the global patterns of heart disease in an effort to decrease the prevalence in the United States and around the world. She has more than 25 publications.
Shaffiq Essajee, BMBCh (Doctorate of Medicine), Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, NYU School of Medicine
Dr. Shaffiq Essajee is a pediatric infectious disease doctor who is a native of Kenya. He began Kenya's first public pediatric HIV clinic in 2001 in his hometown of Mombasa, and he has also recently joined the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative to lead a global pedatric treatment program. As one of the leading pediatric AIDS clinical researchers in the US, he is the recipient of grants and awards from the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. His research focuses on the impact that the immune system and antiretroviral drugs have on the evolution of HIV in children. He is a graduate of Oxford University Medical School and completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of California, SF.
Sheri Fink, MD, PhD
Sheri Fink, M.D., Ph.D. is a fellow of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and a visiting scientist at the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health. Fink has worked with humanitarian agencies throughout the world, responding to complex humanitarian emergencies and disasters including the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina and the December 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami. She has also evaluated relief operations and conducted research for non-governmental organizations, the American Red Cross and UNICEF. Fink wrote the award-winning book, War Hospital: A True Story of Surgery and Survival (PublicAffairs), about Srebrenica, Bosnia. She reports frequently on global health issues for BBC/PRI's The World, and her articles have appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Discover. Fink serves on the board of the Center for Balkan Development and advisory council of Physicians for Human Rights.
Valda Ford, MPH, MS, RN, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Ms. Valda Boyd Ford is the Director of Community and Multicultural Affairs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She is responsible for developing community collaborations that address the health of the community, especially the health of the most vulnerable populations. Her work emphasizes eliminating health disparities and promoting community involvement in the health improvement process. She has taught in the School of Nursing at Creighton University and is the executive director of the Center for Human Diversity, which offers an intensive 10-month course on cultural competency for health care professionals. Nebraska cable television viewers are familiar with Ms. Ford as the host and executive producer of Valda's Place, a talk show on health and diversity issues.
Ms. Ford is Unite For Sight's Director of Refugee Initiatives and volunteered for Unite For Sight's programs at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana as well as in Sierra Leone and in Sri Lanka. She is also co-chair of the health subcommittee of the Urban League of Nebraska.An acclaimed speaker and lecturer on health promotion, entrepreneurship, and cultural diversity, Ms. Ford has presented at World Health Organization conferences, the Mayo Clinic, and at venues in Wales, Saudi Arabia, Poland, China, the Caribbean, and Denmark. She has published dozens of articles on health care and has developed videos and CD-ROM teaching tools on the use of Web conferencing and cultural competency in health care.
Ms. Ford earned her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1991 from Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. She earned an M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. in nursing administration from Creighton University. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational administration.
Lynn P. Freedman, JD, MPH, Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University
Lynn P. Freedman is Director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) Program and an Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Before joining the faculty at Columbia University in 1990, Prof. Freedman worked as a practicing attorney in New York City. As Director of the Law & Policy Project at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health since 1997, she has been a leading figure in the field of health and human rights, working extensively with women's groups, health groups and human rights NGOs internationally. Since the founding of the AMDD Program in 1999, Prof. Freedman has led the initiative to integrate rights-based approaches into maternal mortality strategies and programs.
Prof. Freedman has published widely on issues of maternal mortality and on health and human rights, with a particular focus on gender and women's health. She served as a Senior Adviser to the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Child Health and Maternal Health and was the lead author for the Task Force's report, Who's Got the Power? Transforming Health Systems for Women and Children.
She holds a graduate law degree (JD) from Harvard University, a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University, and a bachelor's degree (BA) from Yale University.
Ilene Gipson, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School; Chair, Women's Eye Health Task Force Executive Committee
Ilene K. Gipson is Professor of Ophthalmology in the Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, and the "Ocular Surface Scholar" at the Schepens Eye Research Institute. She is a cell biologist, a leading researcher in ocular surface biology.
Dr. Gipson is Chair of the Women's Eye Health Task Force Executive Committee, which formed in response to the troubling reality that two-thirds of the world's population of blind and visually impaired persons are women. It has been estimated that three-quarters of blindness and visual impairment is preventable or treatable, thus, education of the public is a necessity. The Task Force seeks to address this need, and the mission is to educate people, particularly women (and in turn their families), regarding those eye diseases that are: intrinsically prevalent in women; occur more often in women because they live longer than men, or are exacerbated by nutritional habits, smoking and/or environmental insult.
Nora Groce, PhD, Associate Professor & Director, Global Health Division, Yale School of Public Health
Dr. Groce is a medical anthropologist, interested in the area of global health and international development with particular emphasis on cross-cultural systems of health care and health as a human rights issues. Her research interests include issues of disability in international health and development, violence as a global public health problem and equity in access to health care in ethnic and minority communities.
Dr. Groce holds a joint appointment in the Yale Department of Anthropology and Yale Institute for Social and Policy Studies. She services regularly as an advisor to UN agencies such as WHO, UNICEF, as well as to a number of non-governmentalorganizations.
Dr. Groce is Director of the Yale/WHO Collaborating Center and Co-Chair of the Disability Studies Group at the Yale Institute of Social and Policy Studies.
Paula Gutlove, DMD, Deputy Director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies
Dr. Paula Gutlove is deputy director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies where she directs the International Conflict Management Program (ICMP). ICMP works internationally and domestically with people of diverse perspectives and interests, to improve communication, facilitate dialogue, build understanding, resolve conflicts, and promote cooperation. Dr. Gutlove founded the internationally known project, /Health Bridges for Peace/ (HBP), in 1996. HBP links health care with the prevention and resolution of inter-communal conflict, using a common interest in public health as an opportunity to bring people together for training, collaborative action, dialogue, and community reconciliation. An important HBP focus has been the development of programs and training materials for psychosocial healing from stress and trauma. These programs function in conflict and post-conflict situations. Health Bridge consultations and programs have been instituted with health professionals and educators in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
In addition, Dr. Gutlove has taken a leading role in promoting professional interchange and assessment in the field of conflict management, both in the USA and abroad. She was the founding chair of the board of the US-based Alliance for International Conflict Prevention and Resolution. She has served as a consultant to the World Health Organization on the development of a WHO Task Force on Health and Human Security, and on the integration of conflict-resolution principles with health-care delivery. Dr. Gutlove has served four times as a public member of official US Department of State delegations to conferences of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, addressing cooperation between governmental and non-governmental bodies in the conflict-management arena. She has worked as a consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the development of a network of non-governmental conflict-management organizations in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Rebecca Hardin, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Anthropology Department and School for Natural Resources and Environment
Rebecca Hardin has worked since 1988 in and on the equatorial forests of Central Africa, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and later as an anthropologist. Her research focuses on social relations of forest use in the Sangha River region, where Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Congo meet. Her Ph.D. dissertation in anthropology is entitled: "Translating the Forest: Tourism, Trophy Hunting, and the Transformation of Forest Use in Central African Republic" (Yale University 2000). Her postdoctoral research projects focus on health issues as they relate to environmental management practices in mining and logging concessions in Central African Republic and the Republic of South Africa. Before joining the faculty in Ann Arbor, she was a lecturer in Anthropology at Yale University in New Haven, a visiting professor in Political Science at the Sorbonne in Paris, and an assistant professor of Anthropology and Environment at Mcgill University in Montreal. She is an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies for the academic year 2005-2006. She is currently an assistant professor jointly appointed in Michigan's Department of Anthropology and School of Natural Resources and Environment.
Julie Harris, PhD, The Larvol Group
Julie Harris was born in Rochester, New York, and went to college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before earning her doctorate in Virology from Columbia University in 2004. She began working with Unite for Sight in February of 2005 as a volunteer at Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana, and served as the Ghana Program Coordinator through July 2005, carrying out Unite for Sight's programs on the camp as well as helping coordinate the programs at Unite for Sight's other locations in Ghana. In August 2005, she returned to the United States and now works as a business consultant for The Larvol Group in San Francisco.
Sharmi Sobhan, Fonkoze
Sharmi Sobhan is a microfinance professional who has over six years experience in international development. She is currently the Executive Director of Fonkoze USA, a non-profit organization based in New York whose mission is to further economic development in Haiti. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Bank Fonkoze. Prior to joining Fonkoze USA, Sharmi was a Fulbright scholar conducting field research on the sustainability of the microfinance sector in Sri Lanka. For two years she worked in the international programs department of Grameen Foundation USA in Washington DC. She has also worked with Save the Children in Bangladesh and GrameenPhone. In addition, Sharmi served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Haiti where she worked closely with a community based women's organization to design and implement a microcredit lending program among other development projects. She has a BA in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, an MA in Economic Development and an MBA in International Finance from American University.
Leon W. Herndon, MD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Duke University Eye Center
Dr. Leon Herndon is a leader in international glaucoma care and the Medical Director of the Duke Eye Center. He also created and maintained a Student Sight Saver Program at Duke University School of Medicine to implement community-based glaucoma screening programs in Durham, North Carolina.
He received the Ruth Salta Junior Investigator Award for National Glaucoma Research by the American Health Assistance Foundation for his continued work in Ghana. He was also named to the Leadership Development Committee of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Herndon is a member of Unite For Sight's Medical Advisory Board.
Lynn L. Huang, MPH, MD Candidate, CRTP Fellow, NIH-National Eye Institute
Lynn Huang is currently a fellow in the Clinical Research Training Program at the National Eye Institute. Prior to this, she has completed a Master in Public Health, with a concentration in Health Management and Policy, at the Harvard School of Public Health. She will be returning to UCLA to complete her last year of medical school and applying for a residency in ophthalmology in the fall. Her research interests include health disparity, epidemiology, and decision analysis in health policy. She first became involved with Unite for Sight last year as a volunteer in Honduras and has served as a regional coordinator since then.
Rosie Janiszewski, MS, CHES, Deputy Director, Office of Communication, Health Education and Public Liaison, National Eye Institute
Ms. Janiszewski has worked in the health education field for more than 20 years at both the state and federal level. Since 1989, she has directed NEI health education activities, including the National Eye Health Education Program, a program to prevent vision loss through public and professional education programs. She implemented the Healthy Vision 2010 program, a vision-related component of Healthy People 2010Before joining the NEI , Ms. Janiszewski was the coordinator for the Cancer Information Service in Illinois. She also served as a program coordinator at the American Heart Association of Wisconsin. She received her MS in community health education at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).
Kohar Jones, MD, Middlesex Family Practice Program
Kohar Jones, MD, is a first year resident in the Middlesex Family Practice Program in Middletown, CT, with prior experience in journalism and international health. She began researching health and development in Africa as a senior at Yale studying abroad with the University of Minnesota Studies in International Development program in Senegal. She continued her investigation on the outbreak and health systems' response to schistosomiasis in Senegal with the support of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Yale Office of Student Research. She graduated from the Yale School of Medicine in 2005 with honors for her thesis in the history of medicine using the case study of schistosomiasis in Senegal to contextualize the ethics of international biomedical research. While in medical school, she worked with the pediatric ward of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambarene, Gabon. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, msJAMA, and Yale Medicine Magazine.
Vadudev Kanade, MD, St. Raphael's Hospital
Dr. Vasudev Kanade completed his residency and fellowship in ophthalmology in India. He served for 12 years as Director of Shantha Netralaya, India. He completed 1.5 years of research at the Yale Department of Ophthalmology and presented scientific papers and posters recently at World Cornea Meeting and Arvo, as well as many in India. He was recently published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. Prior to coming to the United States, he conducted free surgical eye camps and school eye screenings for children in India. He was also Medical Advisor for an Indian Newspaper called Deccan Herald. His areas of interest include cataract, refractive and glaucoma surgery.
Pavithra Krishnan, Filmmaker
Pavithra Krishnan is a writer/first-time filmmaker from South India. An English major with post-graduate training in Broadcast Journalism from BBC World, she interned with a small production company in New York before returning to India to work freelance on short films and writing projects for non-profits. Her poems, essays, articles and short stories have appeared in various Indian magazines. Infinite Vision is her first documentary and was made with a very small volunteer crew and a vast army of well-wishers from around the world. The journey of its making brought her into an awareness of - the way the world changes when we change the stories we tell.
Pavi also works with Video Volunteers, a NY-based non-profit that seeks to connect storytellers from the world of film and video with grassroot causes in developing countries. Until recently she held the position of Communications Director with The Aravind Eye Care Institute in India. In addition she is a core member of CharityFocus, a volunteer-run non-profit and 'incubator of compassionate action' based in California, that among other things, works towards sharing stories of service and inspiration with the world.
Pavi just recently moved to the United States and now lives in the Bay Area with her husband. She is currently working on a book that will further explore the history, evolution and working of the Aravind Eye Care System. It is her aspiration now, in some small way through the telling of this story to inform, interest, but above all inspire audiences, and to help share the story of Dr V's life and work.
Jacob Kumaresan, MD, MPH, Dr.PH, President, International Trachoma Initiative
Dr. Jacob Kumaresan is President of the International Trachoma Initiative, which is dedicated to the elimination of blinding trachoma, the world's leading cause of preventable blindness. Previously, he was Executive Secretary of the World Health Organization's Stop TB Partnership in Geneva, Switzerland. Kumaresan, an Indian national, received his MD degree from Kilpauk Medical College, University of Madras, India. He later earned a MPH, TM and Dr.PH from Tulane University, New Orleans, USA.
Jamie McLaren Lachman, Project Njabulo Director, Clowns Without Borders
The HIV/AIDS pandemic has left an emotional scar on the lives of millions of children in Sub-Saharan Africa. The psychological effects of losing one or both parents, the breakdown of social and community life, and the associated stigma of being affected with HIV/AIDS has generated a need for intervention to alleviate their suffering through compassionate care. Through its innovative program, Project Njabulo, Clowns Without Borders-USA collaborates with grassrots organizations to provide emotional relief to children in South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Their performances and workshops have recently brought laughter and joy to over 30,000 children in the past year. Presentation includes a brief performance followed by a lecture on laughter as a means for psychosocial support. ed
Jamie McLaren Lachman is the director and founder of Clowns Without Borders USA's Project Njabulo. He has lead numerous expeditions to Southern Africa to provide psycosocial support to children affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. His work focuses on the power of laughter and play for emotional recovery from trauma and chronic depression. Born in South Africa and a graduate of Yale University and the Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Mr. Lachman is a clown, teacher, and humanitarian who strives to live fully each day with compassion.
Janet Leasher, OD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Optometry and Director of Outreach for Nova Regional Coordiantor for the UNESCO Chair in Visual Health and Development
Dr. Janet Leasher's current teaching assignments include the vision screening courses and binocular vision clinics. As Director of Outreach for the College of Optometry, she is spearheading a review of the vision screening program and is responsible for creating effective outreach strategies. She also consults with international vision health and development programs, in particular in Latin America. Her research interests surround program evaluation and global access to quality vision care.
Dr. Leasher has received humanitarian service recognition for her dedication to serving those less fortunate both domestically and in developing countries. She currently serves as APHA Vision Care Secretary, Personal Advisor on Latin America to the President of the World Council of Optometry, and has been named the Regional Coordinator for the UNESCO Chair in Visual Health and Development. She is a 20-year member of the American Optometric Association and continues to be very active in VOSH, serving in over 25 missions to various locations in Latin America.
Charles MacCormack, President and CEO, Save the Children
Charles MacCormack has been President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of Save the Children Federation, Inc. since January, 1993.
Dr MacCormack was President of World Learning (previously known as The Experiment in International Living) in Brattleboro, VT from 1977 through 1992. World Learning works to foster world peace through international education. Major program areas include international education exchange, language programs, a fully accredited graduate and undergraduate school, volunteer support and international technical assistance activities. Among his positions prior to becoming President of World Learning was serving as an International Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Assistant to the Dean of the International Fellows Program at Columbia University, and lecturer at the University of New Hampshire.
He is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Executive Committee of InterAction, the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid and the Food Security Advisory Committee. He was selected by the United Nations Secretary General to participate in the founding of the United Nations University and served as a member of the United States Delegation to the World Food Summit and the United States Delegation to the Preparatory Committee for the 2001 General Assembly Special Session on the Children. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Education by Middlebury College, an honorary Doctor of Laws by Clark University and was made a member of the Grand Cordon of the Order of Al-Istiolal by King Hussein of Jordan.
He received his doctorate and master's degree from Columbia University; was a National Science Foundation Fellow at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City; was a Fulbright Fellow at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas; and is a graduate of Middlebury College.
Roger W. Martin, Allergan/Lumigan Glaucoma Screening Activist
Roger Martin is a glaucoma patient who will offer insight into the world of a glaucoma patient turned activist. He founded the Connecticut Lions Eye Health Program Glaucoma Screening Initiative, which was named by Lions Club International as a pilot program for the United States. Martin is a speaker at various Allergan medical functions and has spoken at Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, The American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Optometric Association, Volunteer Eye Surgeon Association, and other conventions. In 2004, Martin became the first non-ophthalmologist to receive the prestigious Community Service Award from the Roman Barnes Society and was recently named to the 2005-2006 National Register's "Who's Who" in Executives and Professionals as a glaucoma activist.
Derek Mladenovich, O.D., MPH Candidate, Adjunct Faculty, Center for International Studies, Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Dr. Mladenovich obtained a doctorate in optometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He completed a residency at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in Delaware and a clinical research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. As a clinician he has worked in community eye clinics in Latin America and Africa. As an adjunct faculty at the Center for International Studies of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Dr. Mladenovich is a frequent lecturer in the US, Europe and Asia. He has served as an optometric consultant for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), Ministry of Health and Social Services of the Republic of Namibia and the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI). As a fellow of the World Council of Optometry (WCO), Dr. Mladenovich has served as an external examiner for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in the Karenni Refugee Camps in Thailand. Dr. Mladenovich is an MPH candidate at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Padmini Murthy, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Practice,New York Medical College School of Public Health
Dr. Murthy is a highly experienced and accomplished healthcare professional with an extensive career encompassing the design, implementation, and management of public health and educational programs at the local, national, and global level. She is a consultant to healthcare providers, international nongovernment organizations, and the United Nations. She obtained her M.D. from Nagarjuna University in Andhra Pradesh, India. She has an Advanced Diploma in Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as an MPH in International Health Education and an M.S. in Management of International Public Service Organizations from New York University.
Currently Program Director of International Health Awareness Network, Mini designs, implements, and manages international women's health programs with a focus on maternal health. Previously a consultant to United Nations Population Fund, she is also on the Assistant Professor of Practice at New York Medical College School of Public Health.
Kovin Naidoo, BSc, BOptomOD, MPH, Director International Centre for Eyecare Education in Africa
A former fullbright scholar Prof. Naidoo obtained his Doctorate in Optometry and his Masters in Public Health at Pennsylvania College of Optometry and Temple University respectively. He subsequently joined the faculty at the optometry department in Durban, South Africa.
Prof. Naidoo has served as the head of the department of Optometry at UDW from 1996 to 1999 and as adjunct faculty at the Pennsylvania College. His areas of teaching are ocular disease and public health and he has lectured extensively on these topics in various countries and has published both locally and internationally on these issues. In 2002 his colleagues recognized his efforts in promoting blindness prevention activities by electing him as the African Optometrist of the Year.
Prof. Naidoo is the director of ICEE in AFRICA, (International Center for Eye Care Education) an organization tasked with increasing access to refractive services and low vision. ICEE has established a Global Procurement Center for NGDOs and Governments in order to ensure the supply of affordable spectacles and low vision aids. The key focus of ICEE activities in Africa has been the creation of sustainable eye care services through the development of public sector models and training.
Prof. Naidoo initiated the formation of the African Vision Research Institute(AVRI) to cater for the lack of development of African Researchers in the eye care field. He serves on the council of the International Society for Epidemiological and Geographical Ophthalmology (ISGEO).
Prof. Naidoo has served on the vision 2020 taskforce and is currently on the council of Vision 2020. He is currently the co-chair for IAPB (Africa) and the vice-president of the African Council of Optometry.
Cliff O'Callahan, MD, PhD
Dr. O'Callahan is the pediatric faculty at the Middlesex Hospital Family Practice residency program in Middletown, CT. Prior to his four years in CT he spent 5 years working with the Puyallup Tribe in Tacoma WA and was the IHS Maternal Child Health Coordinator for the NW. After pediatric residency, and before working for the tribe, he spent almost three years in the Guatemalan refugee camps in Mexico and in the northern jungle state of Peten in Guatemala. There Cliff started a rural health training program for health workers and midwives. He returns there annually.
Dr. O'Callahan has participated as the pediatric recovery physician for the local Healing the Children working trips in Ecuador, and helped teach the Disaster Management course that Case Western Reserve and the International Pediatric Association offered recently in Pakistan.
He is also on the executive committee for the Section of International Child Health of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Bjorg Palsdottir, MPA
Bjorg Palsdottir, MPA is a consultant, the Co-founder and Associate Director of the Center for Global Health at New York University School of Medicine, dedicated to shaping new interdisciplinary education and capacity development strategies for health and health-allied professionals. Prior to working for the Center Ms. Palsdottir worked for the International Rescue Committee a relief and development organization, first at their headquarters in New York, then as a regional information coordinator for East and Central Africa. She is particularly interested in issues related to workforce and organizational capacity development. Ms. Palsdottir's consultancy work has included recommending models for human capacity development for the Institute of Medicine's Committee on "Options for Overseas Placement of U.S. Health Professionalism," used to advise the U.S. government as part of President's "Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief"; the development of a management training program for field staff of development and relief agencies and an evaluation of the American International Health Alliance's emergency medical training programs in Ukraine, Russia and Uzbekistan. Prior to her working for humanitarian organizations, she worked as a journalist for The Economist Intelligence Unit in New York as well as for the Palestine-Israel Journal in Jerusalem. Ms. Palsdottir has also studied and worked in France, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and her home country of Iceland. She holds a BA in economic journalism, a Masters in Public Administration, a certificate in Management Training and Organizational Development from New York University and is a graduate of the Coaches Training Institute in San Rafael, California.
Nita Patel, OD, MPH, Program Manager of Eye Health, Helen Keller International
Dr. Patel has worked at Helen Keller International since May 2003. She is the Program Manager of Eye Health and has worked with the USAID childhood blindness grant, ChildVision, in Mexico, Morocco and South Africa. She provides technical support to HKI's international and domestic refractive error program and program management for the ChildVision programs.
Dr. Patel has Masters in Public Health from Boston University. In addition to her Masters in Public Health, she is has her doctorate of optometry from the Ohio State University. During her schooling she was involved in three VOSH vision screening campaigns to Costa Rica, Venezuela and Mexico. She also spent a semester working at an optometry clinic in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Matthew D. Paul, MD, Danbury Eye Physicians and Surgeons
Dr. Matthew Paul is a cataract specialist and Director of Clinical Research at Danbury Eye Physicians & Surgeons in Danbury, Connecticut. He received his medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Louis Pizzarello, MD, Secretary-General, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness
Dr. Pizzarello is a recognized expert in the fields of public health and ophthalmology. He has worked in blindness prevention programs in 40 countries. His particular interest has been in cataract programs, nutritional and childhood blindness, and the prevention of eye injuries. He has authored numerous scientific papers in the field and has served on a number of advisory boards and committees. He has been named a Distinguished Citizen by Southampton College and has received the Honor Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Spirit of Helen Keller Award from Helen Keller Worldwide. He holds an undergraduate degree from Colgate University, a medical degree from the University of Virginia and a masters degree in public health from Harvard. He has practiced ophthalmology for the past 25 years in Southampton, NY, and is currently associate clinical professor of ophthalmology and public health at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University as well as adjunct assistant professor of preventive medicine at SUNY/Stony Brook.
Phillip Plunk, DDS, FADI, Founder of Project Salud y Paz
Project Salud y Paz is a medical/dental project in the rural highlands of western Guatemala. Founded by Dr. Phil Plunk in 2001, it provides medical and dental services to thousands of rural Maya of the area. In just over 4 years of clinic services they have documented over 45,000 patient visits.
Dr. Plunk received his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Texas Dental Branch in 1977 and was in private dental practice in Texas until 2001. In 2000, he also received a Masters of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.
In 1985, he made his first trip to Guatemala with a medical mission team. That moment profoundly changed his life. Over the next several years, he made 20 volunteer medical mission trips to a variety of locations throughout Latin America. Finally in early 2001, he made the decision to leave his practice in the United States and go to serve the indigenous Maya of Guatemala. He immediately went from an income of well over $100,000 to working for a nonprofit organization receiving only the bare necessary living expenses in Guatemala.
Samuel G. Powdrill, PA, SPA
Sam currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Physician Assistant Program at the University of Kentucky, Lexington. In this role, Sam acts as a lecturer and lab instructor, as well as a project supervisor for Masters Candidates. In 2004, Sam returned to the United States after serving as the Coordinator for the Eye Unit at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya. In the thirteen years he spent at Tenwek, Sam played an integral role in the establishment and expansion of the hospital's Eye Unit. Stationed at Tenwek with one of its partner organizations, Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) - one of the oldest and largest organizations serving the blind and disabled throughout the developing world - Sam focused on developing service delivery and volunteer training programs to serve the surrounding communities. Today, the Tenwek Eye Unit is the major eye care facility for about one million people, providing in- and outpatient services, training programs for volunteer health care workers, and mobile eye care outreach.
Prior to his service at Tenwek, Sam acted as the Coordinator of the Community Eye Health diploma course at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London. He also worked for two years with World Gospel Mission as a Community Clinic Nurse in Roatan Island, Honduras, and served for two years as the Community Health Nurse and Program Advisor at a community health and development project in Bangarapet, India. Sam began his career in health care serving as a nurse and nursing coordinator in Marion, Indiana.
Naeha Quasba, University of Maryland Student
Naeha Quasba is a sophmore student at the University of Maryland. A student of the university honors program, she is majoring in Cell Biology and minoring in Public health. She is the recipient of the University honors merit scholarship and continues to maintain her acedemic rigor. Outside of her classes, she is the secretary of the National Soceity of Collegiate scholars, an alpha member of the DEM pre-health acedemic sorority and conducts oncampus research. Volunteering in Chennai, India last winter with Unite For Sight helped her develop a new passion for international health and study abroad.
Ram Raju, ME, Computer Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
Ram is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vision-Aid. Currently living in the Boston Area and working a full time career as a senior IT specialist, Ram founded Vision-Aid in 2004 with the initial help and support of family and friends, to address the crying issue of the visually impaired in developing countries. Since its inception, Vision-Aid has made great strides, serving many visually impaired persons through its first center and has eveolved into a strong organization, looking forward to the creation of many more centers in India and other developing countries.
Rohit Ramchandani, MPH
Rohit Ramchandani completed his MPH at Boston University's School of Public Health. Concentrating in International Health, Rohit's passion lies particularly in the field of ophthalmic public health.
After working deep within the equatorial rainforests of Guyana, South America on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to Malaria, Rohit returned to his native Canada and founded the University of Waterloo International Health Development Association (UWIHDA) while pursuing his Honours Bachelor of Science in Health Studies and Gerontology.
Building on his ophthalmic research experience at Toronto Western Hospital's Department of Ophthalmology (where he assisted in the investigation of the role of lamina cribrosa biomechanics and ischemia in glaucomatis optic neuropathy), Rohit led a group of 3 students to Hyderabad, India in 2004 where they completed a WHO internship through the world renowned LV Prasad Eye Institute. During this time, his group worked on community eye health projects in urban slums and rural villages throughout the state of Andrah Pradesh. A book based on this experience is currently in the process of publication and an initial draft can be found on the the UWIHDA website under the 2004 project link.
Rohit recently accepted the role of Regional Director of Canada for Unite for Sight. Since beginning this role, he has established 13 chapters accross the country and is working on numerous capacity building initiatives on behalf of Unite For Sight in Canada and internationally. Rohit is a National Laureate of the Canada Millennium Scholarship and recipient of the John McBain Scholarship for International Entrepreneurship. He is currently based out of Toronto where he works as a healthcare consultant for one of the largest business consulting firms in the world. In this capacity, he is currently working on large scale healthcare transformation initiatives within Ontario.
Viviana Rennella, Community Programs Manager, Child Family Health International
Viviana Rennella joined CFHI's board in 2003, and most recently left the board to become a staff member in mid-2004. She was born and raised in Argentina until the age of ten, when her family moved to the U.S. as political refugees. She has worked or volunteered with several community-based organizations in the Bay Area providing services for low-income immigrant youth and families. In 2000, Viviana founded BRIDGES, an international community service program for low-income young people that strives to build responsible international dialogue through grassroots exchanges.
Patrick J. Saine. M.Ed., CRA
PJ Saine writes frequently, lectures internationally, and exhibits his photography in galleries and museums. A lecturer in the Department of Surgery Section of Ophthalmology at Dartmouth Medical School, he is accomplished writer as well as a photographer, and he has a special interest in biomedical photojournalism. His publications include 4 books and over 50 articles and columns. His textbooks on ophthalmic photography have become the field's standard.
A. Sam-Abbenyi, MD, MSc, Director, Program Planning & Analysis, International Trachoma Initiative.
Dr Sam-Abbenyi is a Cameroonian physician with a lot of experience in community primary health care experience. Upon graduating from Medical School in Cameroon (October 1980), Sam worked as District Medical Officer, under the Ministry of Health. He did an outstanding job in reducing the prevalence of trypanosomiasis through mass screening of the population and treatment of patients (1981-1984). He also charted the endemic focus of Paragonimiasis in the district of Fontem. Following his work in Fontem, Sam worked in both the clinical and community services at Tiko District Hospital and at the Provincial Hospital for the South West Province in Limbe (1984-1988). His work earned him a fellowship award from the International Development Research Center, Ottawa, Canada to read for the MSc in Community Health at the University of Montreal (1998-2000).
Sam returned to Cameroon after his Masters program and was appointed Deputy Director of Epidemiology in the Ministry of Health, Yaoundé, Cameroon. He was the coordinator of a program to control potentially epidemic diseases such as meningitis, cholera and yellow fever. He also managed diligently the dracunculiasis eradication program. Sam received a Ministerial award as a leader of the team that eliminated dracunculiasis from Cameroon (1990 - 1996).
Sam left the Ministry of Health and joined the National Epidemiology Board of Cameroon where he was a team leader of a research unit. He conducted six province-wide studies on the prevalence and risk factors of cancer of the breast, cervix and the prostate as well as on arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. These were conducted in order to establish baseline data for chronic diseases in Cameroon.
Later Sam worked as consultant with the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa on the surveillance of epidemic prone diseases in Congo (Brazzaville), Namibia and Uganda and on HIV/AIDS. His skills in consultant services made him work for the International Unit of the Department of Montreal on standardizing training curricula on syndromic approach for the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in five West African countries where the University of Montreal was implementing STI/HIV/AIDS control projects.
Sam has also worked in the Great Lakes Region of Africa in 1998-2003 as Health Program Coordinator of the American Refugee Committee (ARC), Reproductive Health Coordinator at CARE International/Rwanda and Health Coordinator of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
In July 2003, Sam moved from Africa to John Snow Inc, DELIVER Project in Arlington, Virginia as the HIV - AIDS Advisor, a year later Sam was appointed Director of Program Plannings and Analysis at the International Trachoma Initiative in New York. During the past 18 months Sam assisted seven trachoma control programs, namely: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nepal, Niger, Tanzania and Viet Nam in designing national trachoma strategic plans 2005-2009.
Daniel C. Schainholz, MD
Dr. Daniel Schainholz is a graduate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Following a year of surgical training, Dr. Schainholz completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a fellowship in low vision rehabilitation at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. Following a brief stint as medical director of the San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, "Dr. Danny" moved his practice to On Lok Senior Health in San Francisco in order to enhance the clinical components of VR and working towards the development of standards of care for the field of Geriatric Ophthalmology. These days, Dr. Danny is finishing his sabbatical at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health earning his MPH degree with a concentration in Disaster Preparedness. Dr. Danny is a long-time volunteer with Rock Medicine of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics and the Disaster Medical Assistance Team of currently under the auspices of FEMA. In India, Dr. Dan has worked with the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai and the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad. Dr. Schainholz has a long time affiliation with Volunteer Eye Surgeons International and has conducted several teaching-training missions in South Asia, the most recent of which was to Vietnam in January.
Cathy Schanzer, MD, Medical Director and Chief Surgeon, Southern Eye Associates
Dr. Schanzer has provided medical/surgical eye care to the poor and needy of Africa since 1988. What began as periodic medical missionary trips to various countries in Africa has led to the establishment of a permanent eye clinic and surgical center in Sierra Leone in January 2006. Dr. Schanzer now travels to Africa each summer and winter on medical missionary work.
A practicing ophthalmologist in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Schanzer is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology, American College of Surgeons, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, International Society of Refractive Surgery and is a member of both medical and ophthalmology components of her county, state and American Medical Associations. She received her medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and performed her residency in ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine, also in Houston. Specializing in cataract and refractive surgery, Dr. Schanzer is the Medical Director of Southern Eye Associates and Eye Care Surgery Center of Memphis.
Chirag Shah, MD, MPH, Wills Eye Hospital
Dr. Chirag Shah's interest in international ophthalmology developed from his background in public health. While at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, Dr. Shah worked with the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and their women's health cooperative in Ahmedabad, India. He has also completed a medical trek in the Ladahki Himalayas and helped design a novel health surveillance system in Costa Rica. After earning a masters in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health, he collaborated with Rochester's Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired to design an outreach project aimed at improving the visual health of Latinos. This project won a National Eye Health Education Program grant. In 2003, Dr. Shah was one of twenty-five medical students across the country to be awarded the American Medical Association Leadership Award. Dr. Shah completed an internal medicine internship at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and is currently training in ophthalmology at the Wills Eye Hospital.
Bruce Shields, MD, Chair, Yale Department of Ophthalmology
Dr. Bruce Shields received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma and completed his ophthalmology residency at Duke University and his glaucoma fellowship at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He headed the Duke School of Medicine Glaucoma Service for 20 years before joining the Yale School of Medicine in 1996. He is the Chair of Yale's Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science. He has written and lectured extensively on the subject of glaucoma, with eight books, including his Textbook of Glaucoma, which is in its fourth edition and has been translated in four languages. His research has led to over 130 scientific papers, with a special focus on laser application in the treatment of glaucoma. Dr. Shields provides consultation in diagnosis and management of difficult glaucoma problems, with special emphasis on laser and incisional surgical treatment of glaucoma
Patrick Shields, President and Founder, Global Recruitment Specialists
Patrick Shields is the President and Founder of Global Recruitment Specialists, an independent recruitment firm providing personalized, customized, comprehensive human resource services for non-governmental organizations with international operations in developing countries. Mr. Shields is an accomplished recruiter and manager with demonstrated operational ability to administer human resources services to decentralized worldwide offices. He has recognized expertise in high volume, multinational, hands-on recruiting and staffing.
Patrick has been the Manager of Recruitment & Staffing with CARE International in New York City for twelve years, the Director of Admissions of Saint Joseph's College in Brooklyn New York, a Recruiter with the Peace Corps in New York City, and a water and sanitation Peace Corps Volunteer in Kenya in the early 1980s. Patrick has lived in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Patrick is based in Connecticut.
Joshua Silver, PhD, Professor of Physics, Oxford University
In 1996, Joshua Silver, an Oxford physics professor, founded Adaptive Eyecare Limited, which is a UK company formed to research, develop, and apply adaptive ophthalmic lenses. The company developed prototype adaptive spectacles that can correct both far-sighted and near-sighted people. They have been tested in Africa and Asia, supported by Adaptive Eyewear and by the UK Government's Department for International Development as sa public-private partnership.
The eyeglass wearer adjusts the power of each lens to his or her own requirements, and the adaptive lenses are fluid-filled. The power is changed by varying the amount of fluid in the lens.
Lilit Simonyan, MPA Candidate; Founder, Former CEO, International Director, Stepanavan Youth Center NGO Armenia
Lilit Simonyan started a youth non-profit organization in Armenia at the age of 21. Since then, she has been actively involved in non-profit sector of Armenia: working in a French-Armenian non-profit organization SPFA as a director of one of the regional offices, in a pan-Armenian Interregional Youth Council as a vice president and the CEO of the organization she started, Sepanavan Youth Center (SYC). The SYC has been the partner of Unite For Sight of the eye health care project implemented in Armenia in summer 2005.
Lilit Simonyan received Youth Action Net international award (June 2004) and recognition of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Andranik Margaryan (Dec 2004), for her investment and active participation in youth movement of Armenia.
Currently, she is an MPA (Master's in Public Administration) student at the University of Kansas, as a receipient of a prestigous scholarship, E. Muskie/FSA Graduate Fellowship Program Grantee, funded by the U.S. Department of State, and administered by IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board).
Al Sommer, MD, MHS, Dean Emeritus of the School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS '73, is dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and professor of Epidemiology, International Health, and (at the School of Medicine) Ophthalmology. His research interests include outcomes assessment, child survival, epidemiology of visual disorders, glaucoma, vitamin A deficiency, blindness prevention strategies, cost-benefit analysis, the growing interface between medicine and public health, and clinical guidelines.
His long-term, continuing research involves the cause, magnitude, consequences, and control of vitamin A deficiency and, most recently, those of related micronutrients. In a series of complex intervention trials Sommer conducted in Indonesia (1976-1980), he and his research team discovered that vitamin A deficiency was far more common than previously recognized, and that even mild vitamin A deficiency dramatically increases childhood mortality rates, primarily because this deficiency reduces resistance to infectious diseases such as measles and diarrhea. Parallel studies Sommer organized with colleagues in Africa demonstrated that most cases of measles-associated pediatric blindness were also related to low vitamin A levels.
To prove these observations definitively, Sommer and his colleagues ran a number of large-scale, community-based, randomized trials from 1983 through 1992 and demonstrated the link between even mild vitamin A deficiency and pediatric mortality.
Moving from science to practice, Sommer next showed that the debilitating consequences of vitamin A deficiency could be effectively, quickly, and cheaply treated with oral high-dose vitamin A supplementation, and treatment did not require a sterile injectable preparation. As a result, the World Development Report (World Bank) declared vitamin A supplementation one of the most cost-effective of all health interventions.
The latest research by Dr. Sommer and his colleagues has shown that supplementing women of childbearing age with vitamin A or beta-carotene can reduce maternal mortality by an average of 45 percent. These dramatic results are now being tested in a new, large, randomized, controlled, field trial in Bangladesh, where the potential benefits of simultaneous supplementation with other micronutrients (zinc, folate, iron, B-complex) are being determined.
Irwin Stewart, MD, Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia
Dr. Stewart attended the University of British Columbia for degrees in Science and Medicine and completed his specialty in Ear Nose and Throat Surgery at the University of London and New York University. He carried out a Consulting surgical practice and a teaching role as Clinical Professor at UBC for 30 years and in 1984 was the recipient of the Mosher Award from the American Triologic Society for research on Childhood Deafness. During the past 30 years he and his wife have traveled extensively to the Northern Arctic, to the South Pacific and to Africa, sharing their expertise on Hearing Loss with the disadvantaged in developing nations. He has been honored several times by the BC Medical Association for outstanding contributions to Health Care and Community Services. receiving the Cam Coady Memorial medal in 1999 and the Silver Medal of Service Award in 2003.
He has been a member of Rotary for 28 years and has served as Club President and District Governor. In his retirement he and his wife have lead many teams to Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda over the last 12 years, utilizing their Rotary volunteer opportunity and medical background to eliminate preventable deafness. He has served Rotary in many ways: Youth Exchange, Volunteer Medical Services and currently is Literacy Coordinator for Zone 22. He has received many of Rotary's highest awards for International Service work, including The Service Above Self Award from Rotary International and the Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award from the Rotary Foundation. In September 2005 he was honoured by Rotary Zone 22 becoming the first recipient of the Donald MacRae Peace Award. As Professor Emeritus at UBC he serves as a consultant to both Rotary Hearing and Eye programs in Africa, India and the Philippines.
In 2001, he was made a member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest award, for his International service work in the field of Deafness. He and his wife Lois share interests in the field of deafness as well as in eight Grandchildren-so when they are not traveling they are happy to be baby sitters near Vancouver, BC.
Nina Tahhan B.Optom, International Centre for Eyecare Education
Nina Tahhan graduated from the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Optometry degree (Honours) in 1998. She established a private practice shortly after graduating, and in subsequent years became involved in contact lens research by joining the Vision Cooperative Research Centre, University of New South Wales. She has presented research findings at the American Academy of Optometry, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology conferences in the US, the First Global Orthokeratology Symposium in Canada, the Japan Contact Lens Society meeting in Japan and the Third Symposium of the Orthokeratology Society of Australia. She has also lectured Optometry Masters students and supervised final year optometry students on contact lens related topics. Nina has also been involved in workshops for the "Scientia Challenge Program" at UNSW, educating gifted and talented high school students about ocular health, physiology and anatomy. Nina began working with ICEE (International Centre for Eyecare Education), providing eye-care services to the underprivileged in developing countries as well as to the indigenous Australians communities around Australia since May 2005. She is currently enrolled in a post-graduate public health course at UNSW
Shachar Tauber, MD, Director of Ophthalmology Research, Cornea and Refractive Surgery, Department of Ophthalmology and Optometry, St. John's Hospital and Clinics
Dr. Tauber, who is on Unite For Sight's Medical Advisory Board, is a leader in refractive surgery. He participated in clinical research supporting the FDA approval of LASIK for correction of hyperopia. He was Visiting Fellow in advanced techniques in refractive surgery in Venezuela, and served as an observational fellow in cornea and external disease at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Hospital. Dr. Tauber was invited to educate ophthalmologists at the 1998 Global Ophthalmology Conference in China and at Tamil Nadu Medical University in India in 1999.
Keith Tauro
Keith Tauro was a Unite For Sight volunteer with the Simla Sanitarium and Hospital during Summer 2005. Keith worked with the ophthalmologists from Simla to provide an eye camp in rural Himalayan region of Pooh, India.
In addition to his volunteer work with Unite For Sight, Keith is also involved with the International Young Professional Summit and United National Youth Campaign. He was born and brought up in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He graduated in electronics engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology adn worked for two years in Bangalore. Since 2003, he has worked in the Revenue Optimisation Department of Emirates Airlines in Dubai.
Jeff Todd, MS, JD, Vice President Programs & Public Health, Prevent Blindness America
Jeff Todd joined Prevent Blindness America in early 2003, and currently serves as the Vice President of Programs and Public Health. Jeff brings with him a history in community development with a focus on youth-related issues. His diverse educational background includes degrees in business, communications, and law.
Jeff has worked in government, non-profit, and for-profit environments. Beginning his career in the Governor's Office of the State of Indiana, Jeff coordinated a statewide community development initiative focused on substance abuse prevention. He then moved to a position with the Center for Youth as Resources, coordinating field operations for this national organization focused on positive youth development. Prior to Prevent Blindness America, Jeff managed the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, a comprehensive resource of federal government, coordinated through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ken Tuck, MD, Past President of American Academy of Ophthalmology
Kenneth D. Tuck, MD is in the private practice of ophthalmology with Vistar Eye Center in Roanoke, Virginia. He is past president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and is a current member of the Advisory Board of the Academy's Foundation. He is also past president of the Foundation of the Medical Society of Virginia and is a current member of the Board of the Foundation of Roanoke Valley.
He is very active in Rotary International both locally and internationally. At the international level, he is Chairman of the International Eyecare Fellowship of Rotarians. At the local level, he is President of his club and in his District he is Assistant District Governor. On the American Academy of Ophthalmology Foundation Board, he is Chairman of the Rotary Club Task Force.
Dr. Tuck received his Medical Degree from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, and he did his residency in ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Satya B. Verma, OD, Pennsylvania College of Optometry
Dr. Satya Verma is on the faculty at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia, where he has served as the Director, Community Eye Care, Resident eye Care and External residency Programs. He is the Past President of Pennsylvania Optometry Association,;Chester Delaware County optometric Society; Faculty Council, Pennsylvania College of optometry; Bridgeport-Upper Merion Lions Club. Dr. Verma served as a Delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging from Pennsylvania. He was also consultant in health issues for the 1981 White House conference on Aging.
He is Diplomate in Public Health and Environmental Optometry of the American Academy of Optometry and has served as Chair- Vision care Section of APHA. He has been a Board member of the National Council on Aging and has served on the Executive committee of the board. He is currently Chair of the Health promotion Institute of NCOA. He was President of Pennsylvania Vision Conservation Institute, and Chair, Nomination and Evaluations committee of the Pennsylvania Optometric Association. He serves on the Professional Relations Committee, and consultant to the Geriatric and Nursing home committee of the American optometry Association and Community Programs committee of the Prevent Blindness America.
He serves on the Task Force on Public Health and Aging of the American Public Health Association; member of the National Eye Health Education Planning Committee (NEHEP) of the National Eye Institute (NEI) ; Chair of the Awards Committee of the Vision Care Section of APHA and has served as the Program Chair for Public Health section of the American Academy of Optometry. He is now the Chair of the Diplomate Committee of the Public Health Section of the American academy of optometry
Dr. Verma was honored as the recipient of the medal of honor for Carl C. Koch Memorial award in December 2002. Dr. Verma is the recipient of 1998 "Optometrist of the Year" award of the American Optometry association; 1998 Distinguished service Award winner from Prevent Blindness America; 1997 and 1986 OD of the year from the Pennsylvania optometry association and Chester-delaware county Optometry Society. And he is the 1985 George Gottschalk Jr. Award recipient from the Pennsylvania optometry Association and has been selected as Distinguished Practitioner in optometry of the National Academies of practice. He has lectured nationally and internationally and has numerous articles and publications to his credit, including a Manual for Optometrists on Eye Care in Nursing Homes.
In 2002-03, he was selected for a Fellowship of the world council of Optometry (WCO) and served as the Presidential envoy of the WCO to India. In 1993 he was selected by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for a Primary Care Health policy fellowship that he completed in June 2003.
Martin Wand, MD, Chairman, American Academy of Ophthalmology National Glaucoma Project
Dr. Martin Wand received his B.S. and M.D. from Yale University and did his ophthalmology residency and glaucoma fellowship at Harvard. He is a currently a Director of the American Board of Ophthalmology, the Vice-Chair of the Council and on the Board of Trustees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). He was the past chair of the Foundation of the AAO's National Glaucoma EyeCare Program, the American Glaucoma Society Councilor to the AAO, and past president of the New England Ophthalmological Society. Currently Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, he has written and spoken extensively on glaucoma. Dr. Wand specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma.
Seth Wanye, MD, The Eye Clinic of Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ghana
Dr. Seth Wanye is an ophthalmologist at The Eye Clinic of Tamale Teaching Hospital in Northern Ghana. Born in Ghana, he received his medical degree from Kharkov Medical School (Ukraine) in 1990 and continued graduate studies at Ulianovsk State University (Russia). From 1997-2000, he completed his internship and Master of Surgery (Ophthalmology) in Moscow Medical Academy and completed his PhD in Ophthalmology at the Russian Academy for Advanced Medical Training in 2002. He subsequently worked with SDA Hospital at Asamang near Kumasi and at Komfo Anoyke Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. In May 2004, Dr. Wanye became Regional Ophthalmologist and Coordinator for Trachoma Control Program for Northern Region, Ghana. He is also a part-time lecturer at the University for Development Studies in Tamale.
Jeffrey S. Watson, MS, Director of Overseas Operations, Christian Blind Mission International - USA
Jeff Watson has over twenty years experience in planning and managing overseas health development programs with a major emphasis on strengthening in-country capacity to facilitate sustainable program efforts. Jeff joined CBMI in 1995 as the Program Coordinator for the River Blindness Program in Jos, Nigeria, West Africa. There he planned and developed a program for the control of onchocerciasis serving a population of over two million people and worked closely with Ministry of Health in planning and implementation of model ivermectin (Mectizan®) distribution program.
In 2001, Jeff and his family moved to Greenville, SC so Jeff could serve as the Director of Overseas Operations for CBMI-USA. In 2005, Jeff helped to coordinate the International leadership of CBMI to promote the discipline of quality project management for its global five-year strategic plan. Prior to joining CBMI, Jeff worked for USAID in the Philippines as a Health Education Specialist. He worked with Helen Keller International as a Country Director in the Philippines and as the Asia-Pacific Regional Director. Jeff also worked as a Consultant for Community Health Programs at Project ORBIS. Jeff served in the U.S. Peace Corp in Korea from 1973 to 1975 and again in the Philippines from 1979 to 1982.
Jeff's board and committee membership includes National Onchocerciasis Control Task Force (NOTF) Committee, Nigeria; Technical Consultative Committee member for African Onchocerciasis Control (APOC); WHO Consultant for Onchocerciasis Control; and Substitute Teaching Leader for Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) International.
Derek Yach, MBChB, MPH, Professor and Head, Division of Global Health at Yale School of Public Health
Until January 2006, he was Professor and Head, Division of Global Health at Yale School of Public Health. Between 1995 and 2004, Professor Yach worked at the World Health Organization where he had responsibility for developing a new global "Health For All" policy, which was adopted by all governments in May 1998 after 2 years of intensive consultation. He established the Tobacco Free Initiative and ensured that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was accepted by governments, as well as placed chronic diseases and injuries higher on the agenda of governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
Previous research, based in South Africa , where he established the Centre for Epidemiological Research at the Medical Research Council, focused on quantifying inequalities in health, the impact of urbanization on health, and on the epidemiology and effectiveness of control measures to address tuberculosis, measles, diarrheal disease and tobacco.
