2003 News and Events
Posted 12/15/03
SUNY Optometry Researcher Receives Major Grant
Posted 12/03/03
Campus Personal Safety Report (Download PDF)
Posted 11/10/2003
SUNY OPTOMETRY PROFESSOR INDUCTED INTO OPTOMETRY HALL OF FAME
Posted 8/29/2003
SUNY OPTOMETRY RUNS HOSPITAL EYE SERVICES
Posted 6/4/2003
SUNY Optometry graduates 68 on Sunday June 1.
Posted 4/8/2003
Barry B. Lee, Ph.D, research professor at the SUNY College of Optometry, is the recipient of the Rank Prize, one of England's most prestigious scientific awards.
Dr Peter Reinach has been awarded a five-year grant from NEI totaling $1,990,000 for his research in Control of Corneal Epithelial Cell Proliferation.
Dr. Reinach has thirty years of experience working on characterizing how the corneal epithelium plays an important role in maintaining ocular transparency. His laboratory has focused on determining the important roles that membrane ion transport plays in assuring that this tissue renews itself through growth and differentiation. These two responses are essential for keeping the corneal optically clear. Studies on this question led to the realization that this renewal process depends on the ability of various growth factors produced by the cornea to stimulate specific receptors that control growth and differentiation of the corneal epithelial layer. Membrane ion transporter activation by these receptors plays a critical role in this process. They are components of cell signaling cascades that mediate receptor control of these responses required for corneal epithelial renewal and transparency. His most recent NIH competitive application for renewal of this project was ranked at the seventh percentile .
Dr. Reinach received his Ph.D. degree from New York University is professor of Biological Sciences at the College of Optometry and is course director of the general pharmacology course He is also a visiting professor at Shanghai Second Medical University and an adjunct professor in Ophthalmic Sciences at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has been at SUNY since 1994.
SUNY OPTOMETRY PROFESSOR INDUCTED INTO OPTOMETRY HALL OF FAME
NEW YORK, NY - October 28, 2003
On October 23, Harold A. Solan, O.D., M.A., researcher, clinician and former chief of the Learning Disabilities Clinic at the SUNY College of Optometry, was one of five individuals inducted into the National Optometry Hall of Fame, during a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio.
The National Optometry Hall of Fame recognizes persons whose dedicated service and lifetime achievements have advanced the profession of optometry.
Solan, a Columbia University ?49 graduate, has been a faculity member at Columbia University and Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is an internationally recognized expert in children?s perceptual and reading development. He has authored dozens of articles relating to optometry, lectured internationally, conducted worships around the globe and received numerous fellowships, awards and major appointments. In 2001, he received SUNY Optometry?s highest honor, the Benjamin Franklin Society Award, in recognition of his 43 years of dedication to the Optometric Center of New York and to the College.
Some of his lecture and article topics include reading readiness, accommodative infacility, perceptual norms, convergence excess, testing and training methods, dyslexia, intermittent periodic exotropia, and convergence insufficiency.
Solan and his wife, Shirley, live in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
The SUNY College of Optometry offers a four-year post-baccalaureate degree program in optometry and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in vision science. It has the largest outpatient vision care service in the country and an international research institute in vision science.
On June 1, the SUNY College of Optometry's University Optometric Center took over the day-to-day operations of the eye care services at Woodhull Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn. According to Dr. Alden N. Haffner, College President, this is the first major New York City hospital to have its eye department directed by an optometrist. The 1100-bed public hospital is part of the Health and Hospitals Corporation of the City of New York.
"This is a major step for optometry. This affiliation will serve as a rich clinical resource for training our students and residents, as well as area optometrists who are enrolled in our continuing professional education courses," said Dr. Haffner.
Directed by Dr. Jeffrey Roth, a graduate of the College, Woodhull's eye services, which includes ophthalmology and optometry, will be restaffed with SUNY-affiliated ophthalmologists and optometrists. Dr. Roth's goal is to increase the number of patient visits and surgical referrals in the department. The hospital has already invested funds for the purchase of new diagnostic and treatment technology.
On Sunday, June 1, 68 graduates received Doctor of Optometry degrees from the State University of New York, State College of Optometry at its 29th Commencement in the Hudson Theater. In addition, two Ph.D. degrees and five M.S. degrees in vision science were awarded.
In his greetings, College President Alden N. Haffner said, "The campus is, in its most fundamental sense, the intellectual community of ideas, of scholarly pursuits, of conflicting thoughts and of debate and, yes, dissent. Our democracy, our cherished freedoms and the progress of the well being of our citizenry are heavily and critically dependent upon a spirited academic community."
Johanna Duncan-Poitier, MPA, Deputy Commissioner for the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions and the Office of Higher Education, was the Commencement Speaker. Duncan-Poitier is the recipient of numerous New York State and national awards, including the Member Achievement Award from the National Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation, and the State Governor's Work Force Champions Award.
Larry N. Thibos, Ph.D., and Robert H. Webb, Ph.D., both received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University during the ceremony. Dr. Thibos has made significant contributions to the understanding of human ocular aberrations and their effects on visual performance. Dr. Webb is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Ophthalmology and the Department of Dermatology. He is also a Senior Scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute.
The SUNY College of Optometry, founded in 1971, is one of 64 campuses within State University of New York. Its University Optometric Center is the largest outpatient vision care facility in the country and its Schnurmacher Institute for Vision Research has attracted numerous internationally known vision scientists.
Barry B. Lee, Ph.D, research professor at the SUNY College of Optometry, is the recipient of the Rank Prize, one of England's most prestigious scientific awards.
Established in 1972 by the late Lord Rank to encourage a greater understanding of the sciences of nutrition and optoelectronics, two areas the British film pioneer believed would be of special interest to mankind, the Rank Prize was given to Dr. Lee for his work on new pathways in the visual system. The prize, to be awarded February 7, 2004 at the Institutes of Physics in London, is shared with Dr. Dennis Dacey of the University of Washington and Dr. Joel Pokorny and Dr. Vivianne Smith of the University of Chicago.
"We are very proud of Dr. Lee's accomplishments and of his pioneering research into the human visual system. Our institution is fortunate to have a scientist of Dr. Lee's caliber," said Dr. Alden N. Haffner, College President.
Dr. Lee received his Ph.D in Physiology from the University of London. Prior to joining the faculty at the SUNY College of Optometry in 2000, he was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Gottingen, Germany. He is well-known internationally as an author and lecturer in the area of neuroscience.
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