2018 IACLE Awards winners to attend events in USA

Six contact lens educators from around the world will be attending major meetings in the US city of San Antonio, Texas, this year, as winners of the 2018 International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) Awards.

The IACLE Travel Awards, offered for the first time in 2013, are bursaries of up to US$3,000 enabling IACLE Educator Members to attend international meetings. The IACLE Travel Awards are supported by all the sponsors of IACLE (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb and Euclid).

This year there will be three IACLE Travel Awards and recipients will attend either the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry, Academy 2018 (one award) in November 2018 in San Antonio, or the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators’ AOCLE Annual Workshop (two awards) which is also taking place in San Antonio, in Spring 2018. The latter awards are additionally supported by the AOCLE.

Academy 2018 will be held at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center from 7-10 November. The AOCLE meeting – sharing new teaching modalities in the field of cornea and contact lenses – runs at the University of the Incarnate Word, Rosenberg School of Optometry from 31 May – 3 June 2018.

The 2016 IACLE Travel Award winner was Dr Eman Alzghoul from Jordan University of Science and Technology, who attended the Academy 2016 meeting in Anaheim, California. She commented: ‘The award has been the biggest opportunity I’ve had since I started teaching and practicing contact lenses. Thanks to this opportunity, my experience, knowledge and confidence increased incredibly.’

IACLE is also offering educators the chance to become IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year and travel to Academy 2018. IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year will be awarded to three individuals, one from each of IACLE’s three global regions:

– Asia Pacific
– Europe / Africa – Middle East
– Americas

These awards recognise and reward achievements in contact lens education worldwide, and are sponsored by CooperVision. The winners will each receive a bursary of up to US$3,000 towards the cost of attending Academy 2018 and permission to use the title 2018 IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year for their region. 

The IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards are open to all IACLE Educator and Associate members from any country, with preference given to members who are active FIACLEs (Fellows of IACLE) or have attempted the IACLE Fellowship Exam.

Commenting on his experience of winning 2017 IACLE Americas Contact Lens Educator of the Year, Professor Jan Bergmanson of the University of Houston, Texas said: ‘This is a great honor and means a lot to me. To be recognized with this award, among such a large pool of potential candidates, is significant to me.’

IACLE President Dr Shehzad Naroo encouraged all IACLE members to consider entering the 2018 awards. ‘This year we’ll be offering a total of six IACLE Awards and the opportunity for members to attend two major meetings in North America. We are grateful to all our sponsors for their support, to CooperVision for continuing to sponsor the Educator Awards, and to AOCLE for supporting two Travel Awards.’

The deadline for entries for the 2018 awards is midnight (EST) on Wednesday 31 January 2018. Entries should be submitted using the application forms at www.iacle.org (Awards).

IACLE Travel Award recipient Dr Eman Alzghoul, from Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan, receives her certificate from IACLE President Dr Shehzad Naroo at the Academy 2016 meeting in Anaheim, California

Dr Gary Orsborn (left), CooperVision’s Vice President, Global Professional and Clinical Affairs, and IACLE President Dr Shehzad Naroo (right) pictured with 2017 IACLE Awards winners (l-r) Professor Jan Bergmanson, Kristina Mihić and Dr Yazan Gammoh, who received their certificates at the 40^th British Contact Lens Association Clinical Conference

Click here for full details of the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards.

Click here to find out more about the IACLE Travel Awards. 

Information on all IACLE activities and membership benefits is available at www.iacle.org.

ABOUT IACLE

The International Association of Contact Lens Educators was established in 1979 and is a non-profit, non-political association. IACLE has 826 active members in 70 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, silver sponsors CooperVision and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, bronze sponsor Bausch + Lomb and donor sponsor Euclid.

International Association of Contact Lens Educators

E:iacle@iacle.org
W: www.iacle.org

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