National Eye Health Education Program Names New Planning Committee Chair
Anne L. Coleman, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the National Eye Health Education Program Planning Committee. A professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology/Public Health at UCLA and director of the Center for Eye Epidemiology at UCLA's Jules Stein Eye Institute, Coleman replaces Eve Higginbotham, M.D., dean and senior vice president of academic affairs at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. As chair, Coleman will lead the 14-member committee of eye health experts who oversee NEHEP's education programs and recommend new priorities.
"Dr. Coleman brings a wealth of interdisciplinary expertise to this key role," said Paul A. Sieving, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Eye Institute, part of NIH. "Her leadership and commitment to furthering eye health education are exemplary, and I look forward to working with her as she takes on this crucial NEHEP position."
The National Eye Institute established NEHEP in 1989 to increase public and professional awareness of science-based eye health information regarding the preservation of sight and prevention of blindness. NEHEP works with more than 65 public and private organizations to educate people who are at higher risk for eye diseases about the importance of early detection and timely treatment. The program also provides information about low vision rehabilitation.
Coleman has served on several NEHEP committees. She is co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has delivered more than 350 presentations and lectures across the country and worldwide, including in Japan, Pakistan, Brazil, Greece and Australia. She said she hopes "to continue to raise the awareness of the importance of eye care and reduce the rates of needless blindness, both nationally and internationally."
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