Award for local optometrist
Professor Efron was presented with the Charles F Prentice Medal, the top award of the American Academy of Optometry at its annual meeting on November 8.
The lifetime research achievements of prominent Australian optometrist Professor Nathan Efron AC have been celebrated with a prestigious international award.
Professor Efron was presented with the Charles F Prentice Medal, the top award of the American Academy of Optometry at its annual meeting on November 8.
He is only the third residential Australian to receive it.
“I guess I have come a long way since matriculating from Mount Scopus College in 1972,” he told The AJN.
“The Prentice Medal is the most important international research award in optometry.
“I’m thrilled, humbled and honored to receive it.”
He is internationally acclaimed for his work in two fields, the impact of contact lens wear on the eye, and eye tests for assessing diabetic neuropathy.
Professor Efron pointed out these studies have been extended to develop eye tests for the early detection and monitoring of other neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis and motor neurone disease.
His work in the field of diabetes explores the link between eye nerve damage and nerve changes in the feet of diabetic patients.
“The information gained during this study has been used to validate and develop novel eye tests to detect and monitor a potentially severe complication of diabetes known as peripheral neuropathy,” he explained.
In the field of contact lenses, Efron is best known for developing a set of eponymous grading scales for assessing the severity of contact lens complications.
It is estimated that 200,000 of these grading scales have been distributed worldwide to contact lens practitioners and students.
He is also recognised for his work as the instigator and co-convenor of an international survey of trends in prescribing various types of contact lenses.
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