SAN RAMON, CALIF., October 11, 2023—CooperVision—in partnership with the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF)—has awarded 10 Fellows or Candidates of Fellowship with a cumulative $15,000 (USD) in travel grants to attend Academy 2023. These grants enable individuals needing financial assistance to travel to this year’s meeting in New Orleans.
Recipients of the first-ever travel grants were given to individuals from countries including Ghana, India, Nigeria, Nepal, Malawi, and Pakistan.
“We as a company recognize the importance of industry collaboration and ongoing education. That’s why we’re proud to sponsor the inaugural International Travel Grants at Academy 2023,” said Karen Walsh, Senior Director, Global Professional Affairs, CooperVision. “Part of our commitment to advancing the profession means supporting tomorrow’s contact lens leaders by providing them with plentiful opportunities to learn from one another.”
In order to be eligible of receiving the grants, recipients had to be either a Fellow or Candidate for Fellowship of the Academy, live in a low to lower-middle income country (according to the World Bank Index), be able to attend Academy 2023 in New Orleans, and provide a personal statement describing how the Academy and its foundation will play a role in the individuals’ professional growth.
“I am feeling particularly grateful to have received this travel grant,” said Grace Ogbonna. “Not only was I given the opportunity to attend Academy, but the grant allowed me to prove sufficient funding to receive my Visa. It is a great honor and I am incredibly thankful to both the AAOF and CooperVision for helping to make it happen.”
The International Reception—hosted by CooperVision—will take place during Academy on Friday October 13th, 6.00-7.30pm in the Hilton Waterfront.
The AAOF is a nonprofit, philanthropic organization that develops and provides financial support for optometric research and education in vision and eye health to improve clinical patient care. Founded in 1947, the Foundation has raised millions of dollars to support hundreds of awards and/or grants during its more than 75 years. For more information about the AAOF, please visit aaopt.org/about-us/foundation.
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About CooperVision
CooperVision, a division of CooperCompanies (NYSE:COO), is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of contact lenses. The company produces a full array of daily disposable, two-week and monthly soft contact lenses that feature advanced materials and optics, and premium rigid gas permeable lenses for orthokeratology and scleral designs. CooperVision has a strong heritage of addressing the toughest vision challenges such as astigmatism, presbyopia, childhood myopia, and highly irregular corneas; and offers the most complete portfolio of spherical, toric and multifocal products available. Through a combination of innovative products and focused practitioner support, the company brings a refreshing perspective to the marketplace, creating real advantages for customers and wearers. For more information, visit www.coopervision.com
About CooperCompanies
CooperCompanies ("Cooper") is a global medical device company publicly traded on the NYSE (NYSE:COO). Cooper operates through two business units, CooperVision and CooperSurgical. CooperVision brings a refreshing perspective on vision care with a commitment to developing a wide range of high-quality products for contact lens wearers and providing focused practitioner support. CooperSurgical is committed to advancing the health of women, babies and families with its diversified portfolio of products and services focusing on medical devices and fertility & genomics. Headquartered in San Ramon, Calif., Cooper has a workforce of more than 14,000 with products sold in over 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.coopercos.com
Media Contact
Maggie O’Donoghue, Public Relations Counselor
McDougall Communications for CooperVision
maggie@mcdougallpr.com or +1-585-208-8534