Fight for Sight Research Fellow Addresses the Commonwealth Service
Dr Andrew Bastawrous, previously a Fight for Sight/MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow, is today giving the keynote address at the Commonwealth Service: A celebration of the Commonwealth, in front of an audience including Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, and the Prime Minister.
The theme for the service, being held at Westminster Abbey, is ‘towards a common future’. Dr Bastawrous has been invited in his capacity as CEO of Peek Vision. Peek is the mobile app that transforms an android smartphone into an eye examination suite, capable of running a range of tests, including visualisation of the back of the eye.
Peek (Portable Eye Examination Kit) is an affordable and user-friendly way to do comprehensive eye exams anywhere in the world. Based on a smartphone, it is a set of apps, hardware (including an adaptor to enable retinal imaging) and systems to link patients with care pathways. Whilst its applications are potentially global, it is particularly well-suited to bringing high-quality eye care to remote regions in low and middle income countries. Fight for Sight helped fund key studies in Kenya led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which were necessary to validate the Peek Acuity app and the adaptor for retinal imaging. Peek Vision is now established as an independent social impact organisation amplifying the initial research work.
Michele Acton, CEO of Fight for Sight, said: “It’s a great honour for Dr Bastawrous to be invited to give this address. It’s also great news that the profile of sight loss as an issue is being raised. It’s estimated that, worldwide, more than 250 million people live with sight loss (1). Peek has the potential to play a significant part in diagnosing eye diseases and given that over 80% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured (2), this is a huge step forward. We at Fight for Fight will also continue to fund innovative research to take further steps forward in making unavoidable sight loss avoidable.”
Read more on how Peek is being used and its potential to transform eye care
1,2 - Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/
The theme for the service, being held at Westminster Abbey, is ‘towards a common future’. Dr Bastawrous has been invited in his capacity as CEO of Peek Vision. Peek is the mobile app that transforms an android smartphone into an eye examination suite, capable of running a range of tests, including visualisation of the back of the eye.
Peek (Portable Eye Examination Kit) is an affordable and user-friendly way to do comprehensive eye exams anywhere in the world. Based on a smartphone, it is a set of apps, hardware (including an adaptor to enable retinal imaging) and systems to link patients with care pathways. Whilst its applications are potentially global, it is particularly well-suited to bringing high-quality eye care to remote regions in low and middle income countries. Fight for Sight helped fund key studies in Kenya led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which were necessary to validate the Peek Acuity app and the adaptor for retinal imaging. Peek Vision is now established as an independent social impact organisation amplifying the initial research work.
Michele Acton, CEO of Fight for Sight, said: “It’s a great honour for Dr Bastawrous to be invited to give this address. It’s also great news that the profile of sight loss as an issue is being raised. It’s estimated that, worldwide, more than 250 million people live with sight loss (1). Peek has the potential to play a significant part in diagnosing eye diseases and given that over 80% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured (2), this is a huge step forward. We at Fight for Fight will also continue to fund innovative research to take further steps forward in making unavoidable sight loss avoidable.”
Read more on how Peek is being used and its potential to transform eye care
1,2 - Source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/