2022 Educator Awards

IACLE calls for entries for 2022 Educator Awards

Four contact lens educators from around the world will be attending major international meetings this year as winners of the 2022 IACLE Awards.

IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards

The International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) is offering educators worldwide the chance to become IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year and travel to an international meeting providing COVID-19 restrictions allow. IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year will be awarded to three individuals, one from each of IACLE’s three global regions:

2022 IACLE Americas Contact Lens Educator of the Year
2022 IACLE Asia Pacific Contact Lens Educator of the Year
2022 IACLE Europe / Africa – Middle East Contact Lens Educator of the Year

Due to travel restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 award recipients have not yet received their awards. The 2020 winners, Professor Renée Reeder (USA), Professor Bariah Mohd Ali (Malaysia) and Jo Underwood (UK), and the 2021 winners Dr Johanna Garzón (Colombia), Wei Xu (China), and Dr Byki Huntjens (UK), will also receive their awards at meetings in 2022 when restrictions allow.

These awards recognize and award achievements in contact lens education and are sponsored by CooperVision. The winners will each receive a bursary of up to US$3,000 towards the cost of attending an international meeting this year and permission to use the title 2022 IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year for their region.

The IACLE Educator Awards are open to all contact lens educators who have been IACLE members for at least three years. Applicants can either nominate themselves or be nominated by another member or IACLE staff. Educators must demonstrate impact on their institutions and how they inspire their students to become future contact lens practitioners.

‘Translating the latest science and championing evidence-based contact lens practice to inspire future practitioners is at the heart of the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Award,’ said Karen Walsh, Director, Global Professional Affairs – 1 Day & FRP Brands. ‘This commitment to the profession’s exciting future is shared by all recipients, as well as CooperVision. As a long-time IACLE sponsor, we congratulate the 2022 honourees.’

IACLE Travel Awards

The IACLE Travel Awards are bursaries of up to US$3,000, allowing IACLE Educator Members to attend a meeting on a national, regional, or international basis. The IACLE Travel Awards are sponsored by IACLE through the generous support of all IACLE’s sponsors (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb, Ophtecs and Euclid).

This year, there will be one IACLE Travel Award and the recipient will attend a national, regional, or international meeting in 2022 when restrictions allow.

2020 Travel Award recipients Dr Elizabeth Chetty (South Africa) and Associate Professor Nirav Mehta (India) will receive their awards at a national, regional, or international meeting in 2022, providing restrictions allow. Professor Martín Guzmán (Venezuela) received his 2020 Travel Award at the International Congress of Scleral Contacts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in July 2021.

IACLE President Professor Philip Morgan commented: ‘We are delighted to start the search for four new IACLE Award winners for 2022: our three ‘Educator of the Year’ accolades and our Travel Award. We invite our members to consider applying for the 2022 Awards, or nominate a colleague. We are grateful to CooperVision for their continued sponsorship of our Educator of the Year Awards, and to all our sponsors (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb, Ophtecs and Euclid) for their support of the Travel Award and of our work supporting contact lens educators around the world more generally.’

The deadline for entries for the 2022 Awards is midnight (EST) on Monday 28 February 2022. Entries must be submitted using the application forms at www.iacle.org/awards/.

-ENDS-

For media enquires please contact:

Amelia Morgan

Communications Specialist | International Association of Contact Lens Educators

International Association of Contact Lens Educators

Leeds | United Kingdom

Email: a.morgan@iacle.org

Web: www.iacle.org

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Click here for full details of the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards and here for a full list of previous recipients.
Click here to find out more about the IACLE Travel Awards.
Professor Philip Morgan is Head of Optometry at the University of Manchester, UK.
Information on all IACLE activities can be found on the IACLE website here.
Information on IACLE membership benefits is available here.

ABOUT IACLE

The International Association of Contact Lens Educators was established in 1979 and is a non-profit, non-political association. IACLE has 869 (as of 17 December 2021) active members in 79 countries and welcomes contact lens educators from all eye care professions and related disciplines. IACLE is dedicated to raising the standard of contact lens education and promoting the safe use of contact lenses worldwide. It is the leading provider of educational and information resources essential to contact lens educators. IACLE is supported by leading global contact lens manufacturers: Platinum Sponsor Alcon, Gold Sponsor CooperVision, Silver Sponsor Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bronze Sponsors Bausch + Lomb and Ophtecs and Donor Sponsor Euclid.

ABOUT COOPERVISION

CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of contact lenses. The company produces a full array of daily disposable, two-week and monthly soft contact lenses that feature advanced materials and optics, and premium rigid gas permeable lenses for orthokeratology and scleral designs. CooperVision has a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and highly irregular corneas; and offers the most complete portfolio of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com.