NAEVR AND AEVR BOARDS ELECT PETER McDONNELL, M.D. AS THE ALLIANCES’ PRESIDENT

(Washington, D.C.) The Boards of Directors of the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) and the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) have each elected Peter McDonnell, M.D. (Wilmer Eye Institute/Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) as President. Dr. McDonnell succeeds Stephen Ryan, M.D. (Doheny Eye Institute/University of Southern California), who served as the Alliances’ President since their founding in 1993 and stepped down in early 2013.

In addressing the Boards, Dr. McDonnell stated, “I am both honored and humbled by this action, as I realize that I have an important legacy to continue-that of Dr. Stephen Ryan.” In that regard and as his first official duty as President, Dr. McDonnell offered up resolutions successfully passed by each Board that commend Dr. Ryan for his tireless commitment to advocacy and education on behalf of vision research and its benefits to patients, as well as leadership in building the Alliances that are respected for their efforts by Congress, the Administration, coalition partners, and the entire vision community.

The Boards also elected Anthony Adams, O.D., Ph.D. (University of California at Berkeley) as Treasurer and William Schmidt, J.D. (Foundation Fighting Blindness) as Secretary.

Peter McDonnell, M.D. is the Director and William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Wilmer Institute is the largest ophthalmology department in the country with more than 130 full-time faculty. Dr. McDonnell, who serves as the Medical Editor of Ophthalmology Times, is a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO), and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)-all three organizations are founding members of the NAEVR and AEVR Alliances, which are celebrating their 20th anniversary as the “Friends of the National Eye Institute (NEI).”

The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy coalition comprised of 55 professional, consumer, and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. The Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) is a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation dedicated to sustained education about the importance of federal funding for eye and vision research, focused through its Decade of Vision 2010-2020 Initiative. Visit the Alliances’ Web site at www.eyeresearch.org