Use Imaging to Educate on Retinal Disease
“Verbally explaining a patient’s retinal condition is far more time consuming and confusing for the patient than using the findings of a diagnostic test or a clinical image to provide patient education,” writes Sherrol A. Reynolds, OD, FAAO, in her Nov/Dec article, “Educate Your Patients on Retinal Disease Efficiently.” She goes on to write that fundus photography is an excellent tool for efficient patient education, as it illustrates pathology, and that ultra-widefield imaging captures most of the retina in a single image. For the entire article, see https://www.optometricmanagement.com/issues/2022/november-december-2022/educate-your-patients-on-retinal-disease-efficient. 

American Optometric Association Survey Shows Most ODs Discuss/Provide Myopia Management
A total of 69% of optometrists report providing myopia management services in their practices, and three out of four say they consider myopia to be a disease in need of treatment, according to an American Optometric Association (AOA)Research & Information Committee survey. Additionally, close to all responding doctors (464 from 41 states and the District of Columbia) who provide myopia management services (93%) say they practice in metropolitan areas, and 71% of these doctors say they work in an independent practice not associated with private equity or corporate optometry. For more findings from the survey, visit https://www.aoa.org/AOA/Documents/Advocacy/HPI/Doctors-of-Optometry-Embrace-Myopia-Managment.pdf. 
 
Contact Lens Institute Offers Learning Event on YouTube
The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) released the on-demand version of “See Tomorrow,” an online learning event. Specifically, Remarkable Resilience: Eye Care Insights for a Challenging Economy is a 60-minute webinar that centers on new research that uncovered U.S. consumer beliefs and behaviors about eye care choices, discretionary spending, and contact lens habits. Content is designed to benefit a broad range of eye care industry professionals and is available on CLI’s YouTube channel for free. 
 
EssilorLuxottica Pledges Millions to Education Repayment
Retail Optical North America, an EssilorLuxoticca entity, announced an investment in future optometrists with an $11 million pledge over the next two years to fund equipment installation in optometry schools and colleges, provide scholarship programs to third- and fourth-year optometry students, and offer full loan reimbursement to recent graduates. Additionally, EssilorLuxottica announced the availability of $3 million for loan repayments for recent graduates seeking employment within LensCrafters, Target Optical, or Pearle Vision and committed $2.5 million in installation of equipment and remote access capabilities to all interested schools and colleges of optometry. In other news, EssilorLuxottica announced a 10-year licensing agreement with Swarovski for the design, manufacture, and worldwide distribution of Swarovski Eyewear. 
 
Euclid Vision Names Winners of its First Resident Scholarship Award
Euclid Vision Corp. announced that optometry residents Zachary Reynard, OD, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry; Kevin Feng, OD, Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), Salus University; and Cindy Shan, OD, Northeastern State University Oklahoma, College of Optometry (NSUOCO), are the winners of its inaugural Euclid Resident Scholarship Awards, which recognizes innovation in myopia management and orthokeratology. All three were given $1,000 for their myopia-related educational projects.
 
Harrow and iOR Expand Supply Agreement
Harrow and iOR Partners jointly announced the expansion of their national product supply agreement to provide Harrow’s entire formulary compounded ophthalmic products to iOR Partners. 
 
Lighthouse Guild Partners with Bionic Sight Technology
The Lighthouse Guild entered into a partnership with Bionic Sight technology, a company focused on restoring sight to patients who have advanced stage blindness due to retinal degenerative disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa. The partnership allows Lighthouse Guild to impact the direction of medical innovation by investing in breakthrough technologies, Calvin Roberts, president and CEO of Lighthouse Guild says in a press release.  
 
MaximEyes Receives Industry Certification
MaximEyes developers, First Insight Corp. received the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC Health IT) 2015 Edition Cures Update Certification. MaximEyes.com EHR (version 1.1 and higher) and MaximEyes EHR (version 3.0 and higher) are ONC 2015 Edition Cures Update and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) compliant and have been certified by Drummond Group LLC, an ONC-ACB (Authorized Certification Body), per the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
 
Ocuphire Pharma Submits New Drug Application for Reversal of Mydriasis Eye Drops
Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. announced the submission of a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA for its phentolamine ophthalmic solution 0.75% (Nyxol) for the reversal of pharmacologically induced mydriasis produced by adrenergic agonist (e.g., phenylephrine) or parasympatholytic (e.g., tropicamide) agents, or a combination thereof. The NDA is supported by positive results from a clinical program comprised of over 600 subjects.
 
Opus Genetics Gets Green Light on LCA Phase 1/2 Trial 
Opus Genetics announced that the FDA has cleared its investigational new drug application for a Phase 1/2 , first-in-human clinical trial of OPGx-001 in patients who have Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) resulting in biallelic mutations in the LCA5 gene. OPGx-001 is an adeno-associated virus 8 (AAV8) vector that delivers a functional LCA5 gene to retinal photoreceptors. The Phase 1/2, open-label, dose-escalation trial will evaluate the subretinal delivery of OPGx-001 in 9 adult patients who have LCA5.  
 
RetinAI Launches AI TOOL 
RetinAI medical AG launched Discovery CORE with AI for retinal fluid and layer segmentation. Discovery CORE and its AI models are designed to accelerate data analysis and help clinical and academic researchers to collaborate more efficiently in real time with their peers on medical and imaging datasets, according to the press release.
 
SUNY College of Optometry Names New Chair of Clinical Education
Michael Sullivan-Mee, OD, FAAO, was named chair of clinical education at SUNY College of Optometry, beginning July 2023. Dr. Sullivan-Mee will replace Dr. Richard Madonna, who stepped down from the position earlier this year. 
 
Valley Contax Announces Two Employees Have Become Internal Auditors
Valley Contax, Inc, announced that Kimberly Ahern and April Conklin have become Valley Contax’s internal auditors for the company’s quality system, a complex system of processes, documents, and records to ensure that Valley Contax’s products are designed and manufactured to the highest possible standards of quality, according to the press release. 
 
OD Notebook is published weekly on Wednesdays. Unless otherwise noted, the information presented is based on press releases and/or announcements by the respective organizations. Find earlier editions here. To submit a press release to be considered for publication, click here.