OPT Visionary - Summer 2014

PAGE 5 News Blasts The College of Optometry was recognized in five categories at the 15 th Annual Student Life Achievement Awards, most commonly referred to as the STUEYS. The award ceremony, which took place on April 2, is an annual cel- ebration of NSU’s best in academic excellence, student centered, integrity, innovation, opportunity, scholarship/research, diversity, and community. During the event, students, faculty and staff members, corporate partners, and alumni that have contributed to building a greater sense of community and campus life are honored. Pictured below (three of the nominees with NSU President and CEO George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D.) are four of the five NSUCO faculty and staff members that were nominated for STUEYS. Cocurricular Adviser of the Year nominee Christopher Woodruff, O.D., M.B.A., FAAO , is not pictured below. Autism spectrum disorder is the fastest-growing pediatric di- agnosis, affecting 1 in 68 children in the United States. Re- search suggests that children with autism are likely to receive health care. Consequently, to address the vision needs of this growing population and patients with related disorders, NSUCO’s Administration and Pediatric Service formally opened the Neuro Optometric Service in August 2013 to provide examinations and visual processing evalu- ation to these patients. The service, which has been steadily booked since it opened, provides clinical care based upon the interdisciplinary DIR/Floortime model, and NSU’s optometric team often works with the patient’s team to target vision problems. In addition to providing patient care and training students and residents, several research and scholarship initiatives are underway. Rachel A. “Stacey” Coulter, O.D., M.S.Ed, FAAO, FCOVD, associate professor, received a grant funded by the College of Optometrists in Vision Development to investigate the use of yoked prisms in nonverbal patients with autism. Ad- ditionally, Annette Bade, O.D., M.C.V.R., FAAO, assistant professor, received a Healthy Eyes Healthy People grant in collaboration with the University of Miami-NSU CARD to promote awareness of the need for eye examinations among the autism population. NSU’s pediatric faculty is publishing research investigating a specialized eye examination protocol for this population. Dr. Coulter serves as a consultant to a multidisciplinary group of investigators in the United Kingdom that are investigating the use of colored light to facial processing in children with autism. The service is part of NSU’s Interdisciplinary Council for the Study of Autism—a university-wide group that works to expand direct services, professional development activi- ties, higher education programs, and research in this area. NSUCO Earns Five STUEY Nominations Executive of the Year Finalist Linda S. Rouse, O.D., FAAO Professor of the Year Finalist David S. Loshin, O.D., Ph.D., FAAO Staff Person of the Year Finalist Fran Franconeri Student of the Year for the College of Optometry Ryan Beck, class of 2015 (pictured with Dr. Loshin) Neuro Optometric Service: Making a Difference Dr. Bade Dr. Coulter