Joshua D. Stein, MD, MS, Receives 2018 Pisart Award for Outstanding Achievements in Vision Science Research

NEW YORK, March 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lighthouse Guild, the leading not-for-profit vision and healthcare organization, today announced that Joshua D. Stein, MD, MS, is the recipient of the 2018 Pisart Award. Dr. Stein's research focuses on trends in the use of eye care services, patients' access to eye care services, patient outcomes after ocular surgery, the cost-effectiveness of different ocular interventions, and the quality of life of patients with ocular diseases. He uses large databases with the goal of improving patients' access to care and improving the quality and value of the eye care patients receive; his work also aims to reduce racial and other disparities in eye care among different population groups. 

"Dr. Stein is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to understanding vision loss, treatment of eye disease and rehabilitation of people with vision loss," said Alan R. Morse, JD, PhD, President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild. "He is a pioneering vision researcher, whose findings have practical implications for clinical care and decision-making on how to best allocate limited eye care resources and improve access to eye care services."

"Improving the lives of people who are blind, visually impaired, or at risk is the core tenet of Lighthouse Guild," Dr. Morse added. "In recognizing leading clinicians and researchers, such as Dr. Stein, who are similarly dedicated to helping those with vision loss, we lay the groundwork for changes to the health care delivery system that will have broad-ranging impact on patients and families."

2018 Pisart Award Recipient Joshua D. Stein, MD, MS
Dr. Stein is an Associate Professor on the Cataract and Glaucoma Service in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan. He received his MD from Jefferson Medical College, an MS in Evaluative Clinical Sciences from Dartmouth Medical School and an MS in Health and Healthcare Research from University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2007. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants and has published extensively in his field.

Dr. Stein said, "It is a great privilege to receive this prestigious award from Lighthouse Guild, given the organization's unparalleled commitment to preventing vision-threatening eye diseases and improving the lives of patients with compromised sight. We are joined in our commitment to help people with vision loss gain access to high quality health care services that enable them to lead full and productive lives. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to advance this important mission."

Through his research in health services and as an early pioneer in "big data" analyses in the field of ophthalmology, Dr. Stein and his team have published innovative analyses of large databases, particularly those involving healthcare claims data. Dr. Stein's research tackles important structural and financing questions critical to providing high-quality eye care services at a reasonable cost. His work has provided significant insight and improvement in a number of areas.    

• Dr. Stein and his team have performed dozens of studies identifying racial, geographic and other inequities in the receipt of eye care services and outcomes. His findings have implications for improving access to and quality of eye care services for the most disadvantaged and at-risk populations.
• Working with large healthcare claims databases has revealed important therapeutic insights. For example, based on results of their research, Dr. Stein and his colleagues around the country have been pursuing a multicenter trial to test whether a class of systemic medications (statins) may reduce patients' risk of glaucoma progression. 
• Dr. Stein is an early pioneer in the current wave of work that integrates big data with personalized or precision medicine. Working as a collaborative, multidisciplinary team, Dr. Stein and his colleagues are using big data sources to generate personalized forecasts of disease progression for patients with glaucoma. This work will help guide decision-making on treatment plans for patients with glaucoma.

The Pisart Award recognizes an early career vision clinician or scientist whose noteworthy, innovative and scholarly contributions in vision science have the potential for substantial influence in the understanding of vision loss, treatment of eye disease or the rehabilitation of people with vision loss. As the 2018 Pisart Award recipient, Dr. Stein will receive a $32,000 prize at Lighthouse Guild's annual Alfred W. Bressler Vision Science Symposium in the Fall.

About Lighthouse Guild
Lighthouse Guild, based in New York, is the leading not-for-profit healthcare organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss through coordinated vision and health services. With Lighthouse Guild, people who are at risk for, or affected by, vision loss have access to all the resources necessary to lead full, independent and productive lives. For more information, visit  http://www.LighthouseGuild.org.

SOURCE Lighthouse Guild