Community Action Board celebrates 15 years
The Department of Ophthalmology celebrated the Community Action Board's 15th anniversary at a dinner on Oct. 14 at the Women’s University Club.
The Community Action Board is a group of committed volunteers who advance the Eye Institute’s mission by serving as ambassadors in our community, advising faculty on matters of strategic importance, and generously supporting our mission. Philanthropic gifts help to accelerate innovation in the form of seed grants for our faculty research. We are honored and privileged to work with such a fine group of individuals as we pursue our mission of eliminating blinding eye disease.
The CAB was formed after the Eye Institute opened in 2009, and more than 50 people have served.
The Community Action Board has provided support in many areas, including
- Art for the Institute
- Community outreach for talks and support
- Educational materials for our students and residents
- Outreach videos for the institute
- Support for students and trainees in our laboratories and clinics
- Latham Vision Research Innovation Awards
- Lions Gift of Sight
- Johnstone and Freeman Resident Travel Awards
- Medical Student Interest Night hosting
The holders of 13 endowed faculty positions were honored at the dinner, including two new faculty fellowships. Ethan Buhr, PhD, research associate professor, has been appointed to the Ragen Family Faculty Fellowship, and Chris Fortenbach, MD, PhD, assistant professor, to the Jolley Faculty Fellowship.
Since opening in 2009, the Eye Institute has seen more than 500,000 patient visits and 70,000 individual patients. Eye Institute faculty have performed over 40,000 surgeries and provided millions of dollars of charity care. The department’s endowment has grown to nearly $50 million, and the department now ranks third in the nation for research funding from the NIH.
