Volk News

Volk News

Volk Visionary Campaign

At the beginning of this year, Volk Optical launched the 20/20 Volk Visionary campaign, aimed to celebrate and bring to light individuals who go the extra mile in preventing blindness. The number of patients requiring vision care continues to grow and outnumber available caregivers, especially in remote areas that lack access to basic amenities. Thus, creativity, motivation and passion play a huge role in mobilizing eye care out of highly specialized settings to those who need it the most. The 20/20 Volk Visionary campaign aims to inspire students, practitioners and medical professionals by celebrating exceptional individuals dedicated to delivering quality care to patients. Nominations have come in from all over the world highlighting vision care providers who show immense dedication to their work and go above and beyond in helping their own and other communities.

Here are some of the nominees we have recognized this year:

Dr. Brittani Carver-Schemper
Dr. Carver-Schemper was nominated for her work with both local and international communities as well as her dedication to helping others. Since 2014, Dr. Carver-Schemper has provided access to vision care through free eye clinics in India and the Dominican Republic. Additionally, she has established a mission program “Good Eyes for School Supplies” in her own local community in North Carolina. This program is a drive where patients bring in school-bags that are filled with glasses and eye-exam supplies that are then donated to those in need of eye-care but who may not have the means to afford it. She hopes to see this program grow across North Carolina inspiring many practices to get involved and give back to their communities in this way.

Dr. Simon Arunga
Dr. Arunga focuses his efforts on patients who do not have access to eye care due to low income in Uganda. He is currently working on a diabetic retinopathy screening and treatment program, studying the corneal infection microbial keratitis (MK), and piloting a Community Vision Center (CVC) with a population that does not have easy access to eye care. Dr. Arunga has stated, "to me, ophthalmology is a calling – an opportunity to change the world one eye at a time. The miracle of sight changes the lives of whole communities, not just individuals. When someone becomes blind, one of the children (usually a girl) is prevented from going to school to be able to take care of their blind relative. The miracle of sight not only restores the dignity of productivity of the blind person but also reignites the dreams of children whose education was put on hold. I count myself blessed to be able to witness this miracle daily."

Dr. Sanjiv Desai
Dr. Desai has been organizing ocular surgery missions in the Thar Desert in India for the last 35 years. Each year, he performs over a hundred surgical missions free of charge. His work has impacted the lives of over 400,000 people, including two young girls, ages four and six, who were born blind to a family unable to afford corrective surgery. Thanks to Dr. Desai’s compassion in providing them the surgeries needed free of charge, their sight was restored allowing them to regain their childhood and go to school. Dr. Desai continues to promote vision-screening in schools and provide low-cost eyeglasses for children as well as leads a non-profit eye hospital to provide eye care to everyone in need. Dr. Desai has been incredibly “compassionate, consistent and indefatigable [in his] efforts to restore sight in the indigent people of the Thar Desert region whose only chance for vision restoration is the free surgical missions he organizes.”

Alexander Himstead, Sean Melucci, & Janani Prasad
These three University of California, Irvine (UCI) medical students are a student research team led by Dr. Andrew Browne MD/PhD. They chose to conduct ophthalmologic research with the Floating Doctors’ Mobile Clinic “to provide the only reliable source of medical care to the indigenous populations living on remote islands in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama.” Many people in this region suffer from poor vision or blindness and do not have a reliable source of ophthalmic care. The Floating Doctors’ team of trained volunteer ophthalmologists work to provide on-site medical care and vision testing in areas with limited resources. Using handheld imaging devices, such as the Volk Pictor Plus, the team was able to capture diagnostic retinal images of patients who had eye complaints or diabetes. These images were then sent to Dr. Browne at UCI for remote diagnosis who then returned results to the team in Panama so they could proceed with treatment or referrals. The team’s research work has also helped improve teleophthalmology in diagnosis and treatment for ocular diseases using handheld imaging devices. The team’s nominator stated “The benefits of the Ophthalmology Medical Student Research Team’s partnership with Floating Doctors will continue to substantially improve ocular health among the residents of Bocas del Toro, and possibly other future global sites with limited access to ocular care; hundreds of residents receive diagnoses, treatment to slow vision deterioration and even prevent blindness. The Ophthalmology Medical Student Research Team’s work and dedication to providing access to vision care is an inspiration to the community here at UCI and to future medical students and ophthalmologists in training.”

Volk is delighted to recognize these eye care practitioners going above and beyond to provide vision care to communities around the world. They truly bring Volk’s mission of “Eradicating Preventable Blindness” to fruition. To support each nominated winner, a Volk lens of their choosing is provided for these inspiring individuals to continue their incredible work. Without the ongoing efforts of these individuals to screen patients and enable access to vision care, especially to those in underserved communities, many individuals would be at risk of having undiagnosed, treatable eye conditions that could result in blindness. Volk remains in awe with each story we receive, and we look forward to hearing many more inspiring stories. If you know of a person or project that should be a Volk 20/20 Visionary, send us your nominations via email to volk2020@volk.com