Better Vision Institute History and Role

Founded in 1929, the BVI brings together representatives from ophthalmology, optometry and opticianry, to serve as an advisory board to the supply side of the optical industry. Among its responsibilities, the BVI provides input for programs and materials to ensure that the vision messages are accurate, raises awareness on various vision related issues, offers suggestions for continuing education courses and serves as a 3rd party grant applicant for key educational initiatives.

Current Members

Paul E. Michelson, MD, Chair
Dr. Paul E. Michelson is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American College of Surgeons. He received his B.A degree from Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His educational training continued as he did an internal medicine internship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a three-year residency at the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Following his training, Dr. Michelson served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps in the Canal Zone, on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, as head of Ophthalmology at Scripps Clinic Medical Group, and chief of Ophthalmology at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Michelson is currently an ophthalmologist at Eye Care of La Jolla.

Joy Gibb, ABOC, Vice Chair
Ms. Gibb has worked with Master Opticians, which is an independent retail opticianry located in Bountiful, Utah, for over 21 years and currently serves as its manager. She is also an active Contributor to Vision Care Product News and serves the multi-faceted role of secretary, treasurer, and education coordinator for the Far Western Conference of Opticians. Ms. Gibb attended LDS Business College and is from Woods Cross, UT.

Dave Edwards
Dave Edwards is a 30-year optical veteran, who has working experience in all phases of the optical business. He is a Florida Licensed and Nationally Certified Optician, with A.B.O. and N.C.L.E. accreditations. Mr. Edwards has vast background in all phases of the optical business, with a focus on management and education. His executive skills center on the management of a chain of 30 optical offices in Florida and Texas with over 100 employees. In addition, his affiliations extend to optical labs and their management.

At present, Dave serves on both national and international boards for the optical industry. In addition, Dave has been nominated for appointment by the Governor of Florida to serve on the Florida Board of Opticianry.

Marie Carmen Perez-Blanco, OD
Dr. Marie Carmen Perez-Blanco is an optometrist with the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL. Her specialty is in primary eye care and her research interests are in refractive surgery, especially LASIK. Dr. Perez-Blanco received her undergraduate degree from St. Thomas University in Miami, FL and her O.D. from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia, PA.

Kristi Green
Kristi Green is the program director of the J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College Opticianry program in Richmond, Virginia. Mrs. Green has an Associate degree in Opticianry from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master of Science in Occupational and Technical Education from Old Dominion University. She is a board member of the Contact Lens Society of America and the Opticians Association of Virginia and is a fellow member of the National Academy of Opticianry. Mrs. Green is an ABO Master Optician and a Fellow of the Contact Lens Society of America. She is a licensed optician in her home state of Virginia and has industry experience in both private and retail optical settings. Mrs. Green has lectured at state and national meetings, and has written several articles for national trade publications.

Justin Bazan, OD
Justin Bazan, OD is the owner of Park Slope Eye in Brooklyn, N.Y. His articles have been published in various optometric periodicals. He enjoys lecturing on practice management topics, and is best known for his social media expertise. Dr. Bazan has participated in numerous scientific meetings, journal panel discussions and symposia. He has served as a clinical associate of the University of Waterloo School of Optometry. He is a member of the New York State Optometric Association and the American Optometric Association, The Optometric Nutrition Society, The Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society, and The Ocular Surface Society of Optometry. He received a BS in biology from Trinity University and his doctorate of optometry from the SUNY State College of Optometry.

Constance E. West, MD
Dr. West is the Director of the Division of Pediatric Ophthalmology and the Abrahamson Pediatric Eye Institute at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and has a special interest in ophthalmic optics, and teaches nationally and internationally. She travels yearly to Mexico City to help teach at a large eye hospital, and also to the Curso Basico, a program for ophthalmology residents from Central and South America. She just finished a three-year term as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS). She has a special interest in the documentation of eye findings in child abuse.

J. Alberto Martinez, MD
Bio coming soon.

Dr. Dora Adamopoulos, OD
Dr. Adamopoulos's first academic achievement was a double major in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from the University of Central Florida, where she built a solid foundation for her graduate degree as a Doctor of Optometry obtained from New England College of Optometry in Boston, MA in June 1998. During her last couple of academic years Dr. Adamopoulos had the opportunity to sharpen her inherent clinical skills through a series of rotations at different types of medical settings on the East Coast. It was a valuable experience that offered the Doctor exposure to a completely diversified group of patients. After graduation she entered the private practice arena by joining the Leahey Eye Clinic family, an eye care oriented community located at Lowell & Salem in Massachusetts. She worked in the primary care's fast paced setting for a full year offering her invaluable services, which ranged from contact lens fittings, treatement and co-management of ocular pathology, cataracts, and diabetes in a large geriatric population, to name a few.

She now owns a cozy and welcoming optometry office in the DelRay neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.