Newswise — Rockville, Md. – William F. Mieler, MD, FARVO (University of Illinois at Chicago), is the new president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). He succeeds Justine Smith, FRANZCO, PhD, FARVO (Flinders University), whose one-year term ended in May following the ARVO Annual Meeting.
"I am honored to serve as president of such an international and interconnected organization of vision researchers, Mieler said. “I look forward to strengthening the ties connecting our members – and their science – as we build toward the ARVO 2015 theme, 'Powerful Connections: Vision Research and Online Networking.'"
Carol B. Toris, PhD, FARVO (University of Nebraska Medical Center), is the new vice president. John I. Clark, PhD, FARVO (University of Washington), has been named president-elect and will serve the 2015 - 2016 term. Linda K. McLoon, PhD, FARVO (University of Minnesota) and Dimitri T. Azar, MD, MBA, FARVO (University of Illinois at Chicago) are the new vice presidents-elect for that term.
In addition, ARVO members elected three new trustees to the board. Andrew D. Dick, MBBS, MD, FMedSci, will represent the Immunology & Microbiology (IM) Section, Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, FARVO, will represent the Retinal Cell (RC) Section and Raymond "Ray" A. Applegate, OD, PhD, FARVO, will represent the Visual Psychophysics/Physiological Optics (VI) Section. The new trustees began their terms immediately after the 2014 Annual Meeting. ARVO trustees serve a five-year term.
Biographical Sketches
President William F. Mieler, MD, FARVO Mieler is professor and vice-chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is also program director and vitreoretinal fellowship director at UIC. He has been a principle investigator or collaborator on 10 National Eye Institute funded trials and has participated in over 50 collaborative clinical trials. He and his scientific collaborators have presented in excess of 125 abstracts at the ARVO Annual Meeting over the past 20 years. Mieler has served on the ARVO Retina Program Planning Committee of the Annual Meeting Program Committee and the Long-Range Planning Committee.
Vice President Carol B. Toris, PhD, FARVO Toris is a professor and director of glaucoma research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She and her colleagues combine clinical studies and animal models to study effects of the glaucomatous disease process on fluid flow within the eye and how it can be treated with different glaucoma medications and drainage devices to lower the eye pressure. Toris has served as the chair and member of the ARVO Animals in Research Committee, on the Diversity Issues Committee and as a Physiology/Pharmacology (PH) member of the ARVO Annual Program Committee. She has been named an ARVO Gold Fellow in recognition of her service to the organization.
President-elect John I. Clark, PhD, FARVO Clark is professor and Chair of the Department of Biological Structure at the University of Washington. He has published over 130 papers and has been on the ARVO Board of Trustees since 2011. At the 2012 ARVO Annual Meeting, he organized the first “Veterans Vision and the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)” session, which focused on research into the similarities between TBI suffered by military veterans and athletes. The event brought together vision researchers, blinded veterans, and government policymakers.
Vice President-elect Linda K. McLoon, PhD, FARVO McLoon is currently a tenured Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. She is a 20-year member of ARVO, and was elected to serve on the Program Committee from 2005-2008, serving as chair in 2008. She is an active and long-time advocate for vision research on the national level, and believes ARVO needs to continue to play a strong advocacy role. She served on the Advocacy and Outreach Committee from 2007-2014, and acted as chair in 2013 and 2014.
Vice President-elect Dimitri T. Azar, MD, MBA, FARVOAzar is Dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Professor of Ophthalmology, Bioengineering and Pharmacology. He is the editor or co-editor of 14 books on cornea and refractive surgery. His commitment to teaching is legendary in the ophthalmology profession. He has taught and mentored over 80 research and clinical fellows in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery and countless residents.
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