Kevin Willeford, OD.
ORLANDO, Fla.—The American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF) in collaboration with the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society announced that Kevin Willeford, OD, MS, PhD, FAAO, has been named as the 2021 recipient of the Beta Sigma Kappa (BSK) Research Fellowship. Dr. Willeford is an associate professor at the Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry. This fellowship is designed to provide support for early career optometric and vision science faculty research. It will fund Dr. Willeford’s project, “Do non-strabismic individuals use slow fusional vergence to stabilize binocular alignment across gaze positions?”


Jillian F. Ziemanski, OD.
The AAOF also announced that Jillian F. Ziemanski, OD, PhD, FAAO has been named as this year’s recipient of the Korb-Exford Dry Eye Career Development Grant. Dr. Ziemanski is currently an assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry, Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences.
 
Her proposal, Cytokine Priming of the Complement System at the Ocular Surface: Application to Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome, was selected from a pool of very competitive submissions, AAOF said. This $25,000 grant will help her advance eyecare and improve outcomes for people with dry eye disease.