Contact Lenses
Sponsors confident long-awaited CLEAR report will shape the future of contact lenses
Sponsors confident long-awaited CLEAR report will shape the future of contact lenses
A new global consensus report that delivers evidence-based guidance on all aspects of prescribing and fitting contact lenses will act as a “blueprint for the future” of the profession and help deliver the best-possible patient care.
The eagerly anticipated Contact Lens Evidence-based Academic Reports (CLEAR) will be published in the April 2021 issue of the BCLA journal ‘Contact Lens and Anterior Eye’ and will feature work from panels of globally respected experts.
CLEAR, made possible by educational grants from Alcon and CooperVision, will be made available to both BCLA members and non-members – with sponsors confident it will act as an invaluable resource for eye care professionals to refer to for years to come.
Gary Orsborn, Vice President, Global Professional, Medical and Clinical Affairs of CooperVision, said: “The CLEAR papers are a blueprint for contact lens fitting today and future advancements. They represent benchmarks of current knowledge and will be useful for practitioners, students, researchers and industry colleagues for years to come.”
Cheryl Donnelly, Head International Professional Affairs and International KOL Lead, of Alcon, added: “The CLEAR project has been an incredible collaboration between experts in the field of contact lenses and the anterior eye around the world, working together remotely in the midst of a global pandemic.
“These papers will be an invaluable resource for eye care professionals, giving them easy access to an amazing resource of research, analysis and data and will ultimately prove to be of huge benefit to patients.”
CLEAR will feature 10 overview papers, each compiled by a panel chaired by internationally renowned experts. The topics areas and panel chairs are:
• Anatomy and Physiology of the Anterior Eye – Dr Laura Downie
• Biochemistry of lens materials, coating, comfort drops and solutions – Professor Mark Willcox
• Effect of lens materials/design on the anatomy and physiology of the eye – Professor Philip Morgan
• Speciality lenses – OrthoK – Professor Stephen Vincent and Professor Pauline Cho
• Speciality lenses – Sclerals – Dr Melissa Barnett
• Contact lens complications – Professor Fiona Stapleton
• Medical use of contact lenses – Associate Professor Debbie Jacobs
• Contact lens optics – Dr Kathryn Richdale
• Evidence based contact lens practice – Professor James Wolffsohn
• Future applications of contact lenses – Professor Lyndon Jones
The papers will form a central part of the programme at the BCLA’s virtual clinical conference and exhibition in June as part of a concerted drive to provide the best possible patient care. They will set the standard to which researchers and eye care professionals will refer for the latest information in the field and will also highlight potential opportunities for future research.
Executive Chair of CLEAR, Professor James Wolffsohn, said: “Putting together these reports has been an incredible voyage of discovery, bringing together gems of evidence to inform clinical practice, identifying areas where further research is needed and determining where there are opportunities for new innovations from industry.
“CLEAR will act as an outstanding resource for eye care practitioners worldwide, bringing together all the latest information about clinical research in the field and, in doing so, enhancing patient care. We are extremely grateful to Alcon and CooperVision for their continued support.”
The CLEAR report will be published in the April edition of the BCLA journal Contact Lens and Anterior Eye (CLAE). BCLA members will receive a copy of the CLEAR report as part of their member benefits. Non-members can either join the BCLA ahead of the report publication or subscribe to CLAE via the Elsevier site. An online, open access version will also be available for 12 months after publication.
