News from the AOA's Blog

Kemin Health, L.C. (Kemin) is a global nutritional ingredient manufacturer and marketer committed to improving the world’s nutrition with its products. Kemin is well-known for establishing and building the lutein category for eye health, as well as promoting its FloraGLO® Lutein ingredient brand in both the research community and the nutritional ingredients market.

Kemin is dedicated to help educate consumers about essential eye nutrients, such as lutein and zeaxanthin, that can help maintain healthy vision, increase macular pigment optical density (MPOD), improve visual performance, and help reduce the risk of age-related eye conditions. Read the rest of this entry ?

Vistakon®, Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., named Cristina M. Schnider, O.D., senior director, Medical Affairs, responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for Medical Affairs in the area of specialty contact lens products. In her new role, she will report to Colleen Riley, O.D., vice president, Professional Development and Medical Affairs.

Dr. Schnider joined Vistakon® in 1999 as manager of Claims Substantiation and Product Assessment, Research & Development, where she provided claims strategy and support for numerous new products, and played an integral role in the conception of the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE) Study, the largest randomized trial of its kind. In 2003, she was named director of Professional Affairs and later, Medical Affairs, where she provided technical education and support for the launch of several innovative new products. Read the rest of this entry ?

Transitions Optical, Inc. announced the promotion of Brian Hauser to the position of general manager, U.S. and Canada, effective immediately. In this role, Hauser will be responsible for the North American region including strategic planning, business growth and organization leadership, reporting to Chief Operating Officer Dave Cole.  Hauser will continue to serve as director, Lens Manufacturer and Trade Channel Sales, until his successor is named.

“Brian’s extensive optical industry experience, coupled with his ability to build strong relationships internally and externally, makes him an ideal choice for this role,” said Cole. “His leadership of the North American region will ensure we continue to create synergies and customer alignment across all levels of the channel to accelerate business growth.”

After seven years with PPG Industries as a research chemist and then manager, Architectural/Engineering Services for PPG Architectural Finishes, Hauser joined Transitions Optical in 2004 as a Project Chemist. In 2006, he moved to the position of manager, Business Development, where he was responsible for business development initiatives across the organization. He was later promoted to director, Lens Manufacturer Sales, in 2007 and expanded his role to director, Lens Manufacturer and Trade Channel Sales, in 2008.

CooperVision announced the national rollout of Avaira® Toric silicone hydrogel lenses for astigmatic patients in the United States.

Avaira Toric was launched in June, but demand was so high for this lens, the launch was restricted to a few thousand customers who had a fitting set.

The Avaira Toric lens is designed to provide consistent performance in a broad range of astigmatic patients regardless of a patient’s prescription.  Read the rest of this entry ?

VisionWeb, the premier provider of technology services to the optical industry, announced the launch of a new spectacle lens ordering feature that enables users to save an order that has been partially completed for editing and submission at a later date.

Previously, orders could only be saved to the pending orders cart after all of the order information had been entered. Now, orders can be saved to pending once only the patient prescription, lab, and lens information has been entered; all other information can be entered at the users’ convenience. Read the rest of this entry ?