ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Satya B. Verma, OD, associate professor and assistant director of externship programs at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus University, was elected president of the National Academies of Practice (NAP). The second optometrist elected to this position, Verma will be installed at the group’s meeting to be held here in April. His clinical specialties are geriatric optometry, low vision and computer-related vision problems.

Previously, Verma served as the chair of the National Academy of Practice in Optometry (NAPO), one of the 10 academies within the NAP. He has also received numerous awards of recognition, including Optometrist of the Year from both the American Optometric Association and the Pennsylvania Optometric Association, the George Gottschalk Jr. Award from the Pennsylvania Optometric Association, the Geneva Mathiason Award from the National Council on Aging, the Distinguished Service Award from the Council of Indian Organizations, the Distinguished Service Award from Prevent Blindness America, and the Carel C. Koch Jr. Medal Award from the American Academy of Optometry. He was one of the four optometrists selected for the Primary Care Health Policy Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

NAP was founded in 1981 to advise governmental bodies on today’s health care system. Today it promotes scholarly research and inquiry contributing to excellence in the practice of the professions and engages in educational, scholarly and scientific pursuits to increase the quality of interdisciplinary professional practice in the United States. It consists of 10 health care disciplines—medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, podiatric medicine, psychology, social work, veterinary medicine and optometry.