NAEVR Recognizes Cong. Pete Sessions for His Service in Congress and Leadership for Preserving and Restoring Vision

 

National Eye Institute (NEI) Director Paul Sieving, MD, PhD, left, joins while NAEVR President Peter McDonnell, MD (Wilmer Eye Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine), right, present a plaque to Cong. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

On December 12 and in front of a roaring fire in the Rules Committee office in the U.S. Capitol, NAEVR President Peter McDonnell, MD (Wilmer Eye Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) presented a plaque of appreciation to Cong. Pete Sessions (R-TX). In presenting the plaque, which recognizes the Congressman’s 22 years of service in Congress––most recently as Rules Committee Chair––and leadership for preserving and restoring vision, Dr. McDonnell stated the following:

“Although NAEVR serves as the privately funded “Friends of the National Eye Institute (NEI), you have been the ultimate friend of NEI, with support demonstrated in so many ways, including:

• Submitting Report Language that has supported NEI programs through the years and that created the 3D Retina Organoid Challenge.


• Leading this year in recognizing the 50th anniversary of Congress’s creation of the NEI.


• Serving this year as an initial co-sponsor of HR 6421, the Faster Cures and Treatment for Eye Diseases Act [Eye Bond legislation];


• And serving as an initial co-sponsor of H Res 366 in 2009 which designated 2010-2020 as “The Decade of Vision. That resolution recognized NEI’s many vision challenges, including an aging population, the impact of chronic disease on vision, and the disproportionate incidence of eye disease in fast-growing minority populations.”

A number of DC-based vision organization representatives attended the event (see image/caption below) and joined Cong. Sessions in a 45-minute discussion about ways to accelerate vision research to get treatments and therapies to patients.

From left: Dr. Sieving, Ben Shaberman (Foundation Fighting Blindness), James Jorkasky (NAEVR Executive Director), Caren Forsten (Prevent Blindness of Metropolitan DC), Rebecca Hyder (American Academy of Ophthalmology), Cong. Sessions, Dr. McDonnell, Sara Brown (Prevent Blindness), Shefa Gordon, PhD (NEI), Neena Haider, PhD (Harvard University), Neal Adams, MD, and Marisa Lavine (ARVO)