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PROSE recipient launched nonprofit to support young patients

BostonSight has shared an inspiring story about a PROSE Network patient. Alyssa Carfi had a brainstem cavernoma, a condition where blood vessels are clustered together, and in her case, lodged deep in her brainstem. The condition caused bleeding in her brainstem multiple times. Just three days after graduating high school, Alyssa went in for surgery. Based on their location, brainstem cavernomas can cause significant surgical challenges. Following her surgery, Alyssa had facial paralysis, affecting her eyelid and ability to open and close her right eye. She was unable to blink, leaving her right eyelid Dr. lee and Alyssa with Patient permanently open.

GPLI Practitioner of the Year & Educator of the Year 2021

The GP Lens Institute's has named Dr. Jason Jedlicka as its 2021 Practitioner of the Year and Dr. Daniel Fuller as Educator of the Year. A renown scleral lens innovator, educator, author, and lecturer, Dr. Jason Jedlicka is currently chief of the Contact Lens Service at the Indiana University School of Optometry. He is a diplomate in the Cornea, Contact Lenses & Refractive Technologies Section of the American Academy of Optometry and is a co-founder and past president of the Scleral Lens Education Society as well as an advisory board member of the GP Lens Institute.

BostonSight appoints scientific advisory board

BostonSight announced that they have formed a scientific advisory board comprising medical experts to help guide BostonSight’s robust research initiatives. “As leaders in the eye health industry, we’re excited to bring together medical experts to provide expertise and guidance as we plan future studies that will advance the understanding, treatment, and care of complex corneal disease”, said Sara Yost, BostonSight President and CEO. The BostonSight Scientific Advisory Board, chaired by Dan Brocks, MD, BostonSight’s Chief Medical Officer, includes Yost along with Over a treatment period of six months, Alyssa and Dr. Michelle Lee at Weill Cornell Medical Center worked on fitting a PROSE device which is a rigid, gas-permeable specialty lens that rests on the sclera of the eye and vaults over the cornea. The vaulted reservoir is filled with a preservative-free saline solution, which continually bathes the eye in a tear-like environment. Because of their strong material construction, the devices protect the surface of the eye. Today, eight years later, Alyssa feels lucky that she was able to receive the PROSE treatment and has launched the Brave Minds Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports teen and young adults living with brain and brainstem conditions. The organization aims to help patients and their families from diagnosis through recovery by offering financial support for therapies and off-setting medical costs such as PROSE, providing community connection, and delivering goods that are sent to patients in the hospital and to their siblings. Read Alyssa’s full story on www.bostonsight.org

The first to be honored with the new award Educator of the Year, Dr. Daniel Fuller is professor and chief of the Contact Lens Service, Southern College of Optometry. He is a diplomate in the Cornea, Contact Lenses & Refractive Technologies Section of the American Dr. Jason G. Jedlicka Academy of Optometry and is currently vice-president of the Scleral Lens Education Society and an advisory board member of the GP Lens Institute.

Demi Niforos, MS, Vice President of Biostatistics and Statistical Programming at eClinical Solutions; Michael Raizman, MD, a practitioner at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine; Ali Djalilian, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Cornea Service and Director of the Stem Cell Therapy and Corneal Tissue Engineering Laboratory at Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary; and Gloria B. Chiu, OD, FAAO, FSLS, Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology at the USC Roski Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

CLMA has elected a new president

On December 12, 2020, a new CLMA president was elected. Josh Adams (Valley Contax) succeeded Kurtis Brown (DAC intl.) as the 27th president. Josh Adams follows in the footsteps of Janice Adams, who served as CLMA president from 2006 to 2008. GlobalCONTACT congratulates!

The Passing of an industry icon: Milton S. Kallas

He was often described as “one of a kind”, dedicated, detail-oriented, kind, and hard-working; he was always beloved. The contact lens world lost an important part of what makes our industry so special with the passing of Milt Kallas. Milt died peacefully on March 2, 2021 in Pleasanton, California at the age of 77. He is survived by his loving wife of 46 years, Marion, his son Matthew, and his daughter Mollie.

Milt’s professional career in contact lenses began in the early 1990s with Polymer Technology Corporation (PTC). After the acquisition of PTC by Bausch + Lomb, he served as Regional Sales Manager for 17 years for The Boston Group. He left Bausch + Lomb in 2008 but never actually left the contact left industry. He was very influential in helping Menicon America in numerous GP initiatives while establishing his own consulting company. but Milt’s many strengths included the ability to quickly learn new skills – and pass those skills onto others – so therefore, he embraced the benefits of computers long before they became commonplace.

Milt Kallas was a beloved long-time industry professional, mentor, and friend to so many in the contact lens field worldwide. Known as “Uncle Miltie” for his kind, generous, and positive demeanor, he was well known for his selfless devotion to helping others and worked tirelessly to answer questions, return phone calls and emails (in record time!), working to ensure excellent customer support, while training his sales team how to use the various reports and computer programs. This is especially significant as computers were in their infancy His work ethic, dedication, and attention to detail were legendary. According to his long-time colleague Jonathan Jacobson, “Those of you who attended trade shows or conferences at which Milt was present will know that Milt was always the first to show up at the booth and the first in the seminar room, checking to see that all had been done to ensure a smooth operation. And Milt reveled in this too … knowing that he was always the first on the spot. As one whose job it was to worry that things were done correctly and on time, it was always reassuring to know that Milt was on site. Details were Milt’s fixation.”

His family always came first and he loved his wife and was very proud of his children. And his extended family are most appreciative of the impact he has had on their life. He mentored so many people in the industry and part of his legacy will be the quality of the individuals and the impact they have had on the contact lens profession as a direct or indirect result of the influence of Milt Kallas.

By Ed Bennett Acknowledgements: John Hibbs, Jonathan Jacobson, Jay Woychick, David Bland, David Moreira, and Craig Norman

Letter to the Editor The use of lead scleral shells

In the 3-2020 (85) edition of GlobalCONTACT, Dr Hans-Walter Roth published three excellent photographs of a small set of scleral contact shells which comprised six pairs of PMMA shells, one for each eye, together with corresponding lead shells.

Some readers of this magazine may have wondered about the purpose of the lead shells. An essential clue about their use is provided in the photograph of the ‘instruction manual’ in which they are identified as ‘shields’. Since lead can provide shielding against high-energy sources of radiation such as gamma rays and x-rays, shells made from this metal have been used to protect the eye when malignant tumours in orbital region were subjected to radiotherapy.

More than 55 years ago, Jenkin and Tyler Jones wrote the following, which appears to be an exact description of Dr Roth’s shells: “Six shells of different sizes are supplied for both right and left eyes. Transparent duplicates of each size are included with the set. Trial fittings are made with transparent shells until a fair fit is obtained, the corresponding lead shell is then inserted and worn during treatment.”

As the lead shells were worn for only a brief period, a fitting set of six pairs was sufficient to find one which was large enough while providing some clearance of the cornea. Clement Clarke of London, a firm that supplied a wide range of ophthalmic instruments and devices, manufactured the fitting set mentioned by these authors.

Reference: Jenkin, L and Tyler-Jones, R, (1964). Theory and Practice of Contact Lens Fitting, p124-5, The Hatton Press Ltd, London.