26 September 2011
PRESS RELEASE
Apply and nominate now for prestigious BCLA awards
“The pinnacle of my research career in contact lenses” is how Professor Mark Willcox of the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, has described receiving the 2011 British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) Medal Award.
Applications and nominations are now invited for the prestigious annual BCLA research awards, by the closing date of Tuesday 1 November 2011.
Introduced in 1993, the BCLA Medal Award goes to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to contact lenses. Any BCLA member may nominate a person for the Medal, which is awarded at a special ceremony during the annual conference. Past recipients include such luminaries as Professors Brien Holden, Nathan Efron, Irving Fatt, Charles McMonnies and inaugural recipient, Professor Otto Wichterle.
The 2011 recipient was Professor Mark Willcox of UNSW, Australia, who looked at advances in integrating improvements in lens comfort and safety, such as the development of antimicrobial lenses and lens cases. “Receiving the BCLA Medal Award this year was a very great honour,” said Professor Willcox. “As a vision scientist I regard this as the pinnacle of my research career in contact lenses.”
Professor Alan Tomlinson will receive the 2012 BCLA Medal at next year’s conference, to be held at the Birmingham ICC from 24 to 27 May. Nominations are now due for the 2013 award.
Other research awards now open include the £8,000 BCLA Dallos Award, which funds a year long project judged likely to further understanding of a topic related to contact lenses and/or the anterior eye. Applications are now due for the 2013 Dallos Award.
The BCLA Da Vinci Award recognises work by those who are not established contact lens researchers; specifically, applicants should not have published more than five papers related to the field of contact lenses and/or the anterior eye. Equally, the award may be given in recognition of a useful contribution by a member of staff within the contact lens-related manufacture and supply industry. The successful applicant receives £1,000 and a conference delegate’s package. Apply now for the 2012 award.
Each year, the BCLA invites postgraduates in the field of contact lenses and/or the anterior eye to present the annual Irving Fatt Memorial Lecture. Nominees must have completed a PhD, a post-doctoral degree or MSc in the UK within the last five years and continued with their research either in private practice, hospital practice or academia. Dr Martin Cardall will present the 2012 lecture. Nominations are now invited for the 2013 lecture.
For further details and application forms for all these awards, please visit the BCLA website at www.bcla.org.uk. Alternatively, contact Jane Kelly at the BCLA office on 020 7580 6661 or email jkelly@bcla.org.uk
For further information, contact Nicky Collinson,
BCLA Communications Consultant, on 0781 389 6241
or email bcla.communications@virginmedia.com
