COA Member Advocates on Capitol Hill About Research to Reduce the Burden of Eye Disease

As a part of the first-ever class of 21 emerging vision scientists to participate in the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) and the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) events reflecting the breadth of vision research, COA member Pinakin Davey, OD, PhD, worked to reduce the burden of eye disease in the US.

The October 7 event, which was scheduled to build off of recognition of World Sight Day 2015, featured the first-ever Emerging Vision Scientists Day on Capitol Hill, which was funded by a grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB).

These 21 scientists, including COA’s Dr. Davey, attended a congressional briefing—“Burden of Uncorrected Refractive Errors in Vision,” observed a rally to “Raise the (Budget) Caps” hosted by the Nondefense Discretionary United coalition, and displayed posters of their research at an evening reception attended by federal lawmakers.

On October 8 (World Sight Day 2015), the esteemed group visited their congressional delegation offices to request robust, sustained and predictable NIH funding for Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond—adding their unique perspective from vision research.

Read the full article about the visit to Capitol Hill here.

COA member Dr. Pinakin Davey (center) discusses his poster that details his work on age-related macular degeneration with AEVR Board President Peter McDonnell (left) and Perre Smalls from the office of Cong. William Clay, D-MO.

The first-ever class of 21 Emerging Vision Scientists to participate in the AEVR and NAEVR Washington, DC events.