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Dwight Akerman and Lisa McAlister to Discuss Myopia Management at the VM Summit

February 21, 2023

NEW YORK — Review of Myopia Management’s Chief Medical Editor Dwight Akerman, OD, MBA, FAAO, FBCLA, FIACLE, and Lisa McAlister, Global Myopia Lead at Johnson & Johnson Vision, were recently announced as speakers at this year’s Vision Monday Leadership Summit to discuss myopia management.

The VM Summit will be held at The Times Center in Manhattan on Wednesday, March 15, with the theme: “Insight, Unseen: How Leaders Uncover, Design, and Scale Innovation.” The goal of the VM Summit program this year is to tackle the challenges business leaders face in a changed competitive environment, address new consumer priorities and perceptions, and meet the needs of their employees.

Dwight Akerman Lisa McAlister

Dwight Akerman and Lisa McAlister

Dr. Akerman and McAlister will team up to share many of the new approaches being used to effectively educate parents, patients, and eye care professionals about the emerging new science of myopia management. Their presentation will also address new ways that messaging and social awareness, combined with the latest clinical research and expertise, can help ECPs think of myopia management in new ways.

In addition to his role at RMM, Dr. Akerman is a global ambassador to the International Myopia Institute. He is also an internationally recognized senior health care leader with extensive experience in myopia management strategy, peer education and communications, as well as M&A business development and licensing.

McAlister currently serves as the Global Myopia Lead at Johnson & Johnson Vision, and she was recently named the Board Chair of the Global Myopia Awareness Coalition (GMAC). As an industry coalition, GMAC was founded with a mission to promote public awareness of childhood myopia as a treatable disease through direct-to-consumer channels and awareness with governments, NGOs, and other health care associations. GMAC does not advocate for specific clinical approaches. Instead, it is designed to stimulate public interest and prompt parental conversations with eye care practitioners.

“Childhood myopia is a global pandemic that requires immediate action from eye care professionals, parents, policymakers, and manufacturers,” said Dr. Akerman. “Lisa McAlister and I will explore the significant opportunities to educate stakeholders that childhood myopia is not simply a benign refractive condition correctable with single-vision glasses or contact lenses. The field of myopia management is ripe for innovation.”

“I’m honored to be presenting on the topic of myopia management at the Vision Monday Summit together with Dr. Dwight Akerman,” said Lisa McAlister. “It’s an incredible opportunity to continue to raise awareness of myopia, its progression, and its impact, along with the efforts that GMAC is making to drive awareness and help parents move to action.”

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