The key focus areas for 2023 are:
Understanding Childhood Myopia Development
- Pathogenesis, mechanisms, and risk factors
Technologies to Prevent Myopia Onset, including:
- Prophylactic technologies
- Proposals for glasses, contact lenses, interactive, and combination therapies
Strategies to prevent development of symptomatology in new contact lens wearers, with emphasis on:
- Diagnosis and early intervention therapies for new lens wearers
- Understanding biochemical changes in newly fitted contact lens wearers over time
- Controlled release technologies for delivery of beneficial agents, as well as approaches to improve moisture retention
Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Contact Lens Fitting and Diagnostics, including:
- ChatGPT , Bard, etc. – Applications for Optometry and Orthokeratology (Ortho-K)
Any researcher with Principal Investigator (PI) status holding a MD, OD, or PhD is eligible to apply. Applicants, such as postdoctoral fellows, with a waiver of PI status must submit appropriate documentation before funding can be received.