IACLE calls for entries for 2022 Educator Awards

IACLE calls for entries for 2022 Educator Awards

Four contact lens educators from around the world will be attending major international meetings this year as winners of the 2022 IACLE Awards.

IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards

The International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) is offering educators worldwide the chance to become IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year and travel to an international meeting providing COVID-19 restrictions allow. IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year will be awarded to three individuals, one from each of IACLE’s three global regions:

• 2022 IACLE Americas Contact Lens Educator of the Year
• 2022 IACLE Asia Pacific Contact Lens Educator of the Year
• 2022 IACLE Europe / Africa – Middle East Contact Lens Educator of the Year

Due to travel restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 award recipients have not yet received their awards.

The 2020 winners, Professor Renée Reeder (USA), Professor Bariah Mohd Ali (Malaysia) and Jo Underwood (UK), and the 2021 winners Dr Johanna Garzón (Colombia), Wei Xu (China), and Dr Byki Huntjens (UK), will also receive their awards at meetings in 2022 when restrictions allow.

These awards recognize and award achievements in contact lens education and are sponsored by CooperVision. The winners will each receive a bursary of up to US$3,000 towards the cost of attending an international meeting this year and permission to use the title 2022 IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year for their region.

The IACLE Educator Awards are open to all contact lens educators who have been IACLE members for at least three years. Applicants can either nominate themselves or be nominated by another member or IACLE staff. Educators must demonstrate impact on their institutions and how they inspire their students to become future contact lens practitioners.

‘Translating the latest science and championing evidence-based contact lens practice to inspire future practitioners is at the heart of the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Award,’ said Karen Walsh, Director, Global Professional Affairs – 1 Day & FRP Brands. ‘This commitment to the profession’s exciting future is shared by all recipients, as well as CooperVision. As a long-time IACLE sponsor, we congratulate the 2022 honourees.’

IACLE Travel Awards

The IACLE Travel Awards are bursaries of up to US$3,000, allowing IACLE Educator Members to attend a meeting on a national, regional, or international basis. The IACLE Travel Awards are sponsored by IACLE through the generous support of all IACLE’s sponsors (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb, Ophtecs and Euclid).

This year, there will be one IACLE Travel Award and the recipient will attend a national, regional, or international meeting in 2022 when restrictions allow.

2020 Travel Award recipients Dr Elizabeth Chetty (South Africa) and Associate Professor Nirav Mehta (India) will receive their awards at a national, regional, or international meeting in 2022, providing restrictions allow. Professor Martín Guzmán (Venezuela) received his 2020 Travel Award at the International Congress of Scleral Contacts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in July 2021.

IACLE President Professor Philip Morgan commented: ‘We are delighted to start the search for four new IACLE Award winners for 2022: our three ‘Educator of the Year’ accolades and our Travel Award. We invite our members to consider applying for the 2022 Awards, or nominate a colleague. We are grateful to CooperVision for their continued sponsorship of our Educator of the Year Awards, and to all our sponsors (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb, Ophtecs and Euclid) for their support of the Travel Award and of our work supporting contact lens educators around the world more generally.’

The deadline for entries for the 2022 Awards is midnight (EST) on Monday 28 February 2022. Entries must be submitted using the application forms at www.iacle.org/awards/.