Rockville, Md. -- A published report is now available online describing two innovative workshops for advancing vision research by combining the forces of researchers and clinicians from the U.S. and India. The report describes a U.S.-Indo vision collaboration and plans for moving forward in order to prevent, treat, and cure vision disorders worldwide.

The report appears in the May 2006 issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, a journal of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and is also available free online at http://www.iovs.org/cgi/content/full/47/5/1717.

The workshops were held in 2005 − one in India and the other in the U.S. − and sponsored by ARVO. They were funded through a cooperative agreement between the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

The importance of advancing vision research

Blindness and low vision impact the social and economic fabric of every nation in the world. In the U.S., an estimated 38 million people age 40 and older experience blindness, low vision, or an age-related eye disease; the number is expected to grow to 50 million in the next 15 years. The number of people in India with blindness and low vision is estimated at 22 million.

The strength of the U.S. and India in vision

India has approximately 12,000 ophthalmologists, several schools of optometry and vision technology, and powerful information technology resources. It is also home to many people with inherited forms of eye disease who would benefit enormously from gains in identifying genetic and lifestyle factors related to their condition. The U.S. has approximately 18,500 ophthalmologists plus 17 schools and colleges of optometry, vast experience with large-scale studies in vision, and established mechanisms for
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Contact: Elinore Tibbetts
etibbetts@arvo.org
240-221-2923
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
24-May-2006

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