CHICAGO—The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness has named Anne L. Coleman, M.D., MPH, the recipient of their fifth annual Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award. Dr. Coleman is is the Fran and Ray Stark Foundation professor of ophthalmology at Stein Eye Institute of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; vice chair, Academic Affairs, UCLA Department of Ophthalmology; professor of epidemiology in the UCLA Jonathon and Karin Fielding School of Public Health; director of the Stein Eye Institute Center for Community Outreach and Policy and president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Established by the NCCVEH to commemorate Bonnie Strickland and her groundbreaking work to establish a comprehensive children’s vision system in the United States, the Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision award recognizes significant efforts to improve children’s vision and eye health at the state or national level. This year’s award will be presented at the NCCVEH Annual Meeting in Baltimore on September 14, 2019.

Dr. Coleman was selected for her work to improve children’s vision through stakeholder engagement, resource development, and services to high-risk populations, specifically through her work at the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic (UMEC). Highlights of her work include: strengthening ties with program partners, community advocates and schools (including Head Start programs); screening a total of 90,000 preschool students in underserved communities through a grant from First 5 LA; expanding the reach of the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic, now providing vision screening, eye exams and treatment in hundreds of locations including schools and Head Start Programs annually at no cost; creating educational materials, including videos and other materials for teachers, parents and caregivers in English and Spanish through a grant from UCLA Changemakers on the importance of eye care for preschool children; achieving increases in the follow-up rate of children accessing treatment and children wearing their eyeglasses; and collaborating on a study of Return on Investment (ROI) on the social, environmental, and economic value created by the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic.

Dr. Coleman said, “Providing vision care and education to children and their families can enhance quality of life by using preventative measures to avoid vision loss. Receiving the Bonnie Strickland Award is an immense honor as it recognizes the importance of using and improving public health approaches for children’s vision and eye health, a mission I am passionate about.”

Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said, “Prevent Blindness commends Dr. Coleman for her outstanding efforts to improve the vision and eye health of children through partnerships, resource development, and research. We hope her program successes will serve as a platform for other vision leaders to learn from and build on across the country.”

Past recipients of the Bonnie Strickland Champion for Children’s Vision Award include the Vision in Preschoolers (VIP) Study Group, Richard T. Bunner, retired from the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Sean Donahue, Vanderbilt University, the Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) at Princeton Vision Clinic based at the Illinois College of Optometry, and the Pediatric Physicians’ Organization at Children’s (PPOC) based at Boston Children’s Hospital.