GILBERT, Ariz.—Paragon Vision Sciences, a leader in orthokeratology, has entered into a series of educational partnership programs with several leading research institutions and organizations devoted to advancing eyecare practitioner education about myopia.

“Myopia is a worldwide public health concern,” said Richard Jeffries, president, Paragon Vision Sciences. “Through these educational partnerships, along with our resources at The Paragon Education and Training Academy, we are expanding our commitment to provide eyecare practitioners around the world with clinical expertise, strategies, and resources to help treat and prevent potential myopic-related ocular complications and vision loss from occurring.”

Partnerships include:
The Myopia Control Clinic at University of California, Berkeley (UCB)—Paragon Vision Sciences and the Myopia Control Clinicat University of California, Berkeley (UCB), a leading vision science research institution, will work together to develop educational programs to provide current and future eyecare practitioners around the world with the most up-to-date research and treatment options for myopia. Under the leadership of assistant professor of clinical optometry at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) and clinic founder Maria Liu, OD, PhD, the first of these educational programs will commence on April 12 when The Myopia Control Clinic hosts an international delegation of doctors from China.

The Vision Research Institute at the Michigan College of Optometry—Paragon Vision Sciences and the Vision Research Institute (VRI) at the Michigan College of Optometry will work together to develop educational tools focused on employing technology to simplify the effective and efficient diagnosis and fitting of corneal reshaping/orthokeratology and specialty contact lenses in general eyecare practices.

Scleral Lens Education Society—Paragon Vision Sciences and the Scleral Lens Education Society will collaborate on the development of non-product related educational programs at The Paragon Education and Training Academy, a state-of-the-art comprehensive learning and training center, located at the company’s headquarters in Gilbert, Ariz. The Scleral Lens Education Society teaches contact lens practitioners the science and art of prescribing scleral contact lenses.

International Academy of Orthokeratology—Paragon Vision Sciences will collaborate with the International Academy of Orthokeratology, a non-profit independent organization devoted to promoting the science of Orthokeratology to eyecare practitioners, on an educational series devoted to myopia management.

Additionally, Paragon is covering registration fees for optometry students attending Vision by Design 2017, where world renowned experts, practitioners, academics and manufacturers are discussing the latest developments, innovations and research in corneal reshaping, myopia control and specialty contact lenses.