International Health Conference in New York City
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Dear all,
Please be advised that Early Bird Registration for the "First
Annual Unite for Sight International Conference" in New York
City ends on April 1. After April 1, the registration fee in-
creases from US$ 6 to US$ 10. 100% of the registration fees will
be used to cover the cost of cataract surgeries arranged by
Unite for Sight in Ghana.
Register at our website:
http://www.uniteforsight.org/2004_annual_conference.shtml
UNITE FOR SIGHT ANNUAL CONFERENCE PERSPECTIVES: EYES ON PUBLIC
HEALTH
April 24, 2004
9 am - 5 pm ET
Held at NYU School of Medicine
New York City
Unite For Sight is pleased to announce the First Annual Unite
For Sight Conference on April 24, 2004 at NYU School of Medicine
in New York City. This "Perspectives: Eyes on Public Health"
Conference, which offers a program of symposia and lectures,
serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas among students, vol-
unteers, and leading figures in ophthalmology, public health,
and policy. The Unite for Sight Conference also provides an op-
portunity for students to present independent research in the
Student Plenary Session. The Annual Meeting is open to the gen-
eral public.
"The Power of Student Activism", H. Jack Geiger, MD, Arthur C.
Logan Professor Emeritus of Community Medicine and Director of
the Program in Health, Medicine and Society of the City College
of New York
Dr. Geiger's professional career has been focused on problems of
health and poverty, and he has been a champion of health and hu-
man rights over the past five decades. He was a founding member
and Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, the
U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War, which received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1985.
He is also a founding member and Past President of Physicians
for Human Rights (PHR), which shared in the Nobel Prize for
Peace in 1998. He also initiated the community health center
model in the US and was a leader in the development of the na-
tional health center network of more than 800 urban, rural, and
migrant centers currently serving nine million low-income pa-
tients. From 1965-71, he was Co-Director and then Director of
the first urban and first rural health centers in the U.S., at
Columbia Point, Boston, and Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
Dr. Walter Tsou, MD, MPH, President-Elect, American Public
Health Association. Dr. Tsou, former city health commissioner of
Philadelphia and now a public health consultant, is President-
Elect of the American Public Health Association. He is a member
of the Technical Advisory Group for Healthy People 2010 for the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and on the board of
directors of the Pennsylvania Public Health Association. He is
presently a faculty adviser for the Philadelphia Asian American
Health Care Network, on the Dean's Alumni Advisory Council at
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and
on the board of directors for both Physicians for a National
Health Program and Philadelphia Physicians for Social Responsi-
bility. Formerly a medical director/deputy director for personal
health services at the Montgomery County Health Department in
Pennsylvania from 1991 to 2000, Dr. Tsou also served as a clini-
cal assistant professor of community and preventive medicine and
clinical assistant professor of medicine at the MCP Hahnemann
School of Medicine. Dr. Tsou was a member of the Executive Board
of the American Public Health Association from 1998 to 2000 and
is a member of the Association's Community Health Planning and
Policy Development Section.
"Vision2020: The Right to Sight, a Global Initiative", Dr. Louis
Pizzarello, MD, Chair of the North American Region of the Inter-
national Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
Dr. Pizzarello is a recognized expert in the fields of public
health and ophthalmology. He has worked in blindness prevention
programs in 40 countries. His particular interest has been in
cataract programs, nutritional and childhood blindness, and the
prevention of eye injuries. He has authored numerous scientific
papers in the field and has served on a number of advisory
boards and committees. He has been named a Distinguished Citizen
by Southampton College and has received the Honor Award of the
American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Spirit of Helen Keller
Award from Helen Keller Worldwide. He holds an undergraduate de-
gree from Colgate University, a medical degree from the Univer-
sity of Virginia and a masters degree in public health from Har-
vard. He has practiced ophthalmology for the past 25 years in
Southampton, NY, and is currently associate clinical professor
of ophthalmology and public health at the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of Columbia University as well as adjunct assistant
professor of preventive medicine at SUNY/Stony Brook.
"Advances in Corneal Transplantation", Dr. Shachar Tauber, MD,
Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Yale University School
of Medicine and Director of Yale's Cornea and Refractive Surgery
Service
Dr. Tauber, who is on Unite for Sight's Executive Board of Advi-
sors, is a leader in refractive surgery. He participated in
clinical research supporting the FDA approval of LASIK for cor-
rection of hyperopia. He was Visiting Fellow in advanced tech-
niques in refractive surgery in Venezuela, and served as an ob-
servational fellow in cornea and external disease as Massachu-
setts Eye & Ear Hospital. Dr. Tauber was invited to educate oph-
thalmologists at the 1998 Global Ophthalmology Conference in
China and at Tamil Nadu Medical University in India in 1999.
Mr. Joe LaMountain, Vice President, Strategic Communications of
Vision Council of America Mr. LaMountain leads advocacy to im-
prove eye health care for children. Previously he worked for the
American Diabetes Association as the National Director of Advo-
cacy, where he helped to get 37 state laws passed that required
health insurance plans to cover diabetes supplies and education
as a basic benefit. He helped to enact a similar law benefiting
senior Medicare diabetes patients.
President or Director of International Trachoma Initiative
The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) is dedicated to the
elimination of blinding trachoma, the world's leading cause of
preventable blindness. ITI seeks to achieve global elimination
of blinding trachoma by putting into action the SAFE strategy,
applied research and program evaluation, and communications and
advocacy.
"A Role for Health Education", Ms. Rosemary Janiszewski, Deputy
Director, Office of Communication, Health Education and Public
Liaison; Director, National Eye Institute Health Education Pro-
gram, NIH.
Ms. Janiszewski has worked in the health education field for
more than 20 years at both the state and federal level. Since
1989, she has directed NEI health education activities, includ-
ing the National Eye Health Education Program, a program to pre-
vent vision loss through public and professional education pro-
grams. Before joining the NEI, Ms. Janiszewski was the coordina-
tor for the Cancer Information Service in Illinois. She also
served as a program coordinator at the American Heart Associa-
tion of Wisconsin. She received her MS in community health edu-
cation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She is a Certi-
fied Health Education Specialist (CHES).