The Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award is presented annually to a student or resident in a health-related field who submits the best overall application and essay. This year’s essay addresses the 2025 Focus on Eye Health Summit theme: Perspectives in Vision emphasizing the need for a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to addressing eye health challenges in an evolving world. The Summit will explore topics such as:
- Innovations in vision care and technology
- Public health strategies to reduce preventable blindness
- Policy frameworks to integrate eye health into broader healthcare system
- Local to global approaches to ensuring access to quality eye care
- Personal stories from patients and caregivers to deepen insights into eye health
By uniting diverse perspectives, this event aims to inspire actionable solutions to improve vision health outcomes for communities worldwide.
This esteemed award consists of formal acknowledgement and a commemorative plaque to be presented at webinar in the Fall of 2025 which builds on the theme of the 2025 Focus on Eye Health Summit. The awardee will be invited to present their essay and related work as a speaker on the webinar.
2025 Rising Visionary Award
Patrice M. Hicks, PhD, MPH, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, was selected as the recipient of the 2025 Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award, which recognizes a student or resident in optometry, ophthalmology, primary health care, nursing, or other health profession in the United States who has the best overall application and essay in response to this year’s topic – “Identify an opportunity where the need for a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach in development of vision and eye health research, programs, or policy can address eye health challenges.”
Dr. Hick’s award submission emphasized leveraging social determinants of health research to identify and address key factors affecting vision and eye health disparities, such as income, education, neighborhood resources, and healthcare access. By using secondary data to analyze these determinants, targeted policies can enhance access to eye care in underserved communities. A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach, integrating vision care into broader public health initiatives through partnerships among healthcare providers, researchers, and community organizations can inform research, improve service delivery, and promote policies that ensure equitable access to vision care for all patients.
2024 Rising Visionary Award
Erica Shelton, OD, MS, FAAO, Clinical Instructor and PhD Candidate, The Ohio State University College of Optometry
The 2024 Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award recognizes a current student, intern, or resident located in the United States in optometry, ophthalmology, primary health care, nursing, psychology, or another health-related field, who submitted the best essay based on the 2024 Focus on Eye Health Summit theme, “Being Seen and Heard.”
Dr. Shelton’s essay emphasized the significant successes in supporting strong school-based vision programs (SBVP). According to Considerations in Building a School-Based Vision Program, Ambrosino et al, “School-based vision programs (SBVPs) serve as one approach to advancing health equity. Operating at the intersection of schools and healthcare, SBVPs can increase access to pediatric vision services, improve academic performance, and facilitate referrals to community vision care providers.”
Dr. Shelton’s essay expands this definition, noting that providing accessible vision care to the pediatric population provides opportunities to improve vision health literacy in families and help build a culture that appreciates the importance of vision care across all ages. This can be achieved by replicating proven SBVP programs and expanding them across all communities.
2023 Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award
Christina Ambrosino
medical student, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award recognizes an optometry student or resident, ophthalmology resident, primary health care, nursing, or other health professional student or resident in the United States who submits the best essay based on a question related to the 2023 Focus on Eye Health National Summit theme, “Why the Eye?” The 2023 Rising Visionary Award recipient is Christina Ambrosino, medical student at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Ms. Ambrosino’s essay championed the importance and effectiveness of trainee-led vision screening organizations (TLVSOs). TLVSOs work by partnering trainees with local eye care providers to conduct community vision screenings and coordinate follow-up care. An additional benefit is that these programs foster trainee interest in eye care careers.
The co-recipient of the third annual “Rising Visionary Award” ss Marissa K. Shoji, MD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
Dr. Shoji’s essay, “A Guiding Light: A Vision for the Future,” addressed racial and gender disparities in eyecare. She outlined the need for a national program focusing on fostering diversity in ophthalmology, including recruitment of individuals at all stages of training, from interested high school students to fully-licensed practitioners with special emphasis on both underrepresented minorities and women.
The co-recipient of the third annual “Rising Visionary Award” is Hursuong Vongsachang, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Vongsachang’s award submission detailed the need and benefit for school-based vision care to be available widely and sustainably. She hopes that her current work in program implementation can one day translate into nationwide availability of school-based vision services through advocacy, stakeholder engagement and continued research. The goal is to bridge gaps in vision care access for children in need.
The recipient of the second annual Rising Visionary Award” is Ms. Shervonne Poleon, Vision Science Graduate Program student, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Ms. Poleon’s essay, “Prioritizing Wellness in Eye Care,” outlined the need for “eye care facilitators,” whose focus would be the social and psychological wellness of patients, with the goal of improving visual outcomes by directly addressing socio-behavioral factors that limit care delivery and efficacy.
Araba Otoo, a third-year optometry student at The Ohio State University, was selected as the first recipient of the Prevent Blindness Rising Visionary Award. The award recognizes an optometry student or resident, ophthalmology resident, or other health care professional student or resident in the United States who has the best essay based on a question related to the 2020 Focus on Eye Health National Summit theme, “An Eye to the Future.” Otoo’s essay featured ideas on public education and awareness tactics to create the most impactful change to improve the future outlook of vision and eye health.
Applicant Criteria
Applicants should be a current student, intern, or resident located in the United States in optometry, ophthalmology, primary health care, nursing, psychology, or another health-related field. The awardee must be available to present virtually at a Focus on Eye Health Summit webinar in the Fall of 2025.
