BostonSight PROSE Provider Network Welcomes Dr. Britney Kitamata-Wong

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Supports PROSE Treatment Growth

Dr. Britney Kitamata-Wong, UCSF

Needham, Mass. –June 21, 2022 – BostonSight® announced today that Britney Kitamata-Wong, OD, FAAO, FSLS, has joined the PROSE Provider Network at the University of California, San Francisco site. Dr. Kitamata-Wong joins Dr. James Li at UCSF as the need for PROSE treatment grows. They are part of a select group of PROSE-trained Fellows, with fewer than 30 optometrists in the world holding this designation.

PROSE® is a medical treatment that saves sight in individuals with severe ocular surface disease.  For many people, PROSE is often their only option to restore visual function and end suffering from critical and devastating eye issues resulting from complications of severe dry eye, keratoconus, ocular GVHD, Sjögren’s Syndrome, Stevens Johnson Syndrome, corneal damage or injury, and other corneal diseases.

PROSE treatment teams include cornea specialist ophthalmologists and optometrists who have completed an intensive BostonSight PROSE Clinical Fellowship. During treatment, doctors customize prosthetic lens devices from gas-permeable polymers for each patient’s condition and unique eye shape. PROSE teams work in partnership with the patients’ other medical providers to ensure that treatment manages the underlying eye condition.

Dr. Kitamata-Wong earned her Doctor of Optometry degree at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Optometry. She completed a residency in cornea and contact lenses at the Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University. Her clinical interests include visual rehabilitation and contact lens management for patients with ocular surface disease and corneal irregularities. Dr. Kitamata-Wong has worked in clinical research relating to contact lens care products and their effects on the ocular surface. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and Scleral Lens Education Society.

A full list of PROSE Network Sites can be found on the BostonSight website at https://www.bostonsight.org/find-a-provider/

About BostonSight®  
BostonSight is a nonprofit healthcare organization that advances the treatment of diseased or damaged corneas and dry eye. Our ongoing commitment to research and achieving optimal patient outcomes through innovative scleral lens design, education, and technology has saved the sight of thousands of people around the world. BostonSight PROSE® treatment is available at top medical centers around the U.S., Canada, and India. BostonSight SCLERAL® was launched to expand access to global scleral lens technology. BostonSight SCLERAL has partnerships with Spectrum International in Latin America and L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in the Middle East and India.

 

Contact:

Michele Hart
BostonSight
mhart@bostonsight.org

Dr. Bita Asghari, Associate Director of Clinical Education, Featured on Two Podcasts

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Dr. Bita Asghari, PROSE provider and BostonSight’s Associate Director of Clinical Education, was recently featured on two podcasts:

Clique on Dry Eye: The Intersection of Scleral Lenses and Dry Eye Disease (19 min)

Scleral contact lens expert, Dr. Bita Asghari, discusses how scleral contact lenses intersect with other dry eye therapies to bring patients maximal comfort.  Find out where sclerals can fit into your treatment strategy.

 

Try Not to Blink: Is it a Fit Issue or an Eye Issue

In this special episode, Try Not to Blink hosts, Jimmy and Roya, talk to Dr. Asghari about her background and how she fulfilled her American Dream though her optometric career.

BostonSight’s Dr. Karen G. Carrasquillo Promoted to Senior Vice President, Clinical and Professional Affairs

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Expanded role will include developing BostonSight’s Educational Center of Excellence

Dr. Karen G. Carrasquillo headshot with white coat

Dr. Karen G. Carrasquillo

Needham, Mass. –June 7, 2022 – BostonSight®, a nonprofit eye healthcare organization and research center dedicated to saving sight and improving quality of life for patients, announced today that Karen G. Carrasquillo, OD, PhD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Clinical and Professional Affairs.  Dr. Carrasquillo previously served as Vice President, Clinical and Professional Affairs.

In this expanded role, Dr. Carrasquillo will build upon BostonSight’s educational initiatives by developing BostonSight’s educational center of excellence, which will provide education on scleral lenses and the treatment of ocular surface diseases. She will have broad responsibility for the development and growth of global market knowledge and demand for BostonSight lenses, treatments, innovations, research, and technologies.

“Dr. Carrasquillo’s passion and drive to educate, raise awareness, and promote our work has been a key driver in elevating BostonSight’s reputation to a well-recognized, supportive, and collaborative organization,” said Sara Yost, BostonSight President and CEO. “Her unwavering commitment to BostonSight’s mission and vision has created a bridge to the international scleral lens community.”

Dr. Carrasquillo has a remarkable resume. She has contributed a vast amount of knowledge to the scleral lens industry based on her years of clinical and medical device design experience. In 2015, she led BostonSight in the research and development of the patented BostonSight SCLERAL FitKit®. She has been vital to the product’s success over the past 5 years and continues to lead product innovation. She is passionate about education. She founded and leads BostonSight’s annual FitAcademy®, a training program on ocular surface disease management and scleral lenses and travels the world delivering lectures and workshops to educate optometrists globally on the benefits, challenges, and troubleshooting of scleral lenses. She is also a prolific author, having published close to thirty articles on scleral lenses and contributed to several scleral lens books and industry resources. Dr. Carrasquillo leads the team of PROSE® providers at the BostonSight Needham Clinic, where she sees PROSE patients. Her clinical experience drives advances in product development, patient care, and practitioner education. She is also an adjunct clinical professor at the New England College of Optometry and at the School of Optometry, MCPHS University, an advisory member of the Gas Permeable Lens Institute, Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, Fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society, and Fellow of the British Contact Lens Association.

About BostonSight®
BostonSight is a nonprofit healthcare organization that advances the treatment of diseased or damaged corneas and dry eye. Our ongoing commitment to research and achieving optimal patient outcomes through innovative scleral lens design, education, and technology have saved the sight of thousands of people around the world. BostonSight PROSE® treatment is available at top medical centers around the U.S., Canada, and India. BostonSight SCLERAL® was launched to expand access to global scleral lens technology. BostonSight SCLERAL has partnerships with Spectrum International in Latin America and L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in the Middle East and India.

Contact:

Michele Hart
BostonSight
mhart@bostonsight.org