IACLE calls for entries for 2021 Educator of the Year Awards

December 2020

Three contact lens educators from around the world will be attending major international meetings next year, as winners of the 2021 IACLE Awards launched today.

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 a major 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:

• 2021 IACLE Americas Contact Lens Educator of the Year
• 2021 IACLE Asia Pacific Contact Lens Educator of the Year
• 2021 IACLE Europe / Africa – Middle East Contact Lens Educator of the Year

The 2020 winners, Professor Renée Reeder (USA), Professor Bariah Mohd Ali (Malaysia) and Jo Underwood (UK), will also receive their awards at meetings in 2021, when restrictions allow.

These awards recognize and reward 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 and permission to use the title 2021 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, their IACLE regional / country coordinator or IACLE staff. Educators must demonstrate impact on their institutions and the ways that they inspire their students to become future contact lens practitioners.

IACLE President Dr Shehzad Naroo commented: ‘We are proud to be able to continue to offer the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards for our three global regions. IACLE encourages all members to consider applying for the 2021 Awards, or to nominate someone for the Award. We are grateful to all our sponsors for their support, and especially to CooperVision for continuing to sponsor the Educator of the Year Awards.’

‘Continuous advancement in contact lens technology has made it more important than ever for students to receive focused education in this area of education and practice experience,’ said Gary Orsborn, OD, Vice President of Global Professional, Medical and Clinical Affairs, CooperVision. ‘As one of the world’s leading soft contact lens manufacturers, CooperVision is proud to support IACLE each year in recognizing outstanding contact lens educators for their dedication to the future of the profession.’

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

Three 2020 Travel Award recipients, Dr Elizabeth Chetty (South Africa), Professor Martín Guzmán (Venezuela) and Associate Professor Nirav Mehta (India) will receive their awards at an international meeting in 2021, providing COVID-19 restrictions allow. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, there will be no IACLE Travel Awards for 2021.

The deadline for entries for the IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year 2021 awards is midnight (EST) on Sunday 31 January 2021.

PICTURE CAPTION: IACLE President Dr Shehzad Naroo (left) and CooperVision’s Marcella McParland (right), pictured with some of the 2018 IACLE Award winners (l-r) Professor Martha Lucia Marquez Garcia (Colombia), Runa Mazumder (India), Wim Borst (Netherlands) and Henri Eek (Netherlands), at the 2018 American Academy of Optometry.