Next, let me tell you about some exciting news about funding being directed towards vision research! The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a non-profit advocacy organization comprised of a coalition of 55 professional, consumer and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. NAEVR's goal is to achieve the best eye and vision care for all Americans through advocacy and public education for eye and vision research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Eye Institute (NEI) and other federal research entities.
NAEVR was formed in 1997 as an affiliated organization of the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) to carry out advocacy activities of the coalition. The organization has had a presence at our annual meeting for many years. Many of you have stopped by their “Contact Congress” booth and have had the opportunity to speak with NAEVR’s Executive Director, James (Jim) Jorkasky. Jim has played an integral part in helping optometry obtain funding for many worthwhile research initiatives at nearly every school or college of optometry in the country.
Jim has reported recently released NIH data. Between the regular/ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) NEI funding and Department of Defense (DOD) extramural research awards, vision research funding has increased by an unprecedented $230 million! Just from NEI-ARRA funding alone, optometric researchers received $5.4 million of the $142 million awarded to date, or about 4 percent, which is consistent with that received in regular appropriations. Jim anticipates those numbers will continue to increase. The attached chart shows the $5+ million in funding for optometry research.
In 2009, NAEVR coordinated both House and Senate resolutions that acknowledged the 40th anniversary of the NEI and designated 2010-2020 as the decade of vision. Jim says, “With the start of 2010 and this bolus of increased funding, we are on the threshold of an exciting decade of research to prevent blindness and restore vision.”
While NAEVR considers itself a “friend of NEI,” I hope you recognize James Jorkasky and NAEVR as a “friend of the Academy and the profession” and as our advocate for vision research funding. If you would like more information about NAEVR, please visit their website. Please stop by the NAEVR booth to contact your congressman later this year when we all meet again in San Francisco; your voice could greatly benefit the field of optometry!
