NAEVR/AEVR Initiate NEI 40th Anniversary Events in 2009 with Capitol Hill Reception

Cong. Pete Sessions (R-TX) provides a welcome

On January 28, the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) and the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR), which serve as the privately funded "Friends of the National Eye Institute (NEI)," held a reception for Members of the 111th Congress and their staff. In his welcome comments, Cong. Pete Sessions (R-TX) announced that the NEI will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2009. NAEVR/AEVR Executive Director James Jorkasky added that the reception was the start of a series of events to be held in 2009 to educate about the value of vision research funded by the NEI within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also introduced attendees to a new NAEVR/AEVR initiative, Decade of Vision 2010-2020, which is a sustained effort to recognize the impact of federally funded vision research that benefits all Americans. NAEVR will seek House and Senate resolutions acknowledging NEI’s 40th anniversary and designating 2010-2020 as the Decade of Vision.

NAEVR/AEVR’s James Jorkasky with Cong. Howard Coble (R-NC) and Cong. Sessions	Cong. Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Charles Thigpen with James Jorkasky
Left and right: Cathy Cohen and Rebecca Hyder (American Academy of Ophthalmology) with (center) Tom Zampieri, Ph.D. (Blinded Veterans Association)	Keagan Lenihan from the office of Cong. Sessions and Brette McClellan (Alcon Laboratories, Inc.)
NAEVR Advocacy Manager David Epstein with Janel George from the office of Cong. Donna Edwards (D-MD)	Brad Morris and Michael Fayoyin from the office of Cong. Travis Childers (D-MS)
Barry Londeree and Marcia Knutson from the office of Cong. Jim Moran (D-VA), an appropriator on two key Subcommittees for vision research (Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, LHHS), with jurisdiction over NIH funding, and Defense Appropriations, with jurisdiction over Peer Reviewed Vision Research and the Vision Center of Excellence