Leader in Eyewear for Color Blindness Welcomes the Counsel of
Seasoned Medical Professional and Global Health Advocate
BERKELEY, Calif., July 8, 2024
/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- EnChroma® – creators of glasses for color
blindness – today named to its Board of Directors Catherine Ireland, MD, NMD, LAc, a physician who
specializes in pain management, naturopathic medicine, and
acupuncture. In addition, she was the owner of To Your Points and
Optima Wellness, two providers of integrative medicine for pain
management in New York City and
Portland, Oregon.
"Dr. Ireland's experience in healthcare and
advocacy for global access to health services will benefit EnChroma
immensely," said Erik Ritchie, CEO
of EnChroma. "We know Dr. Ireland will play a key role in helping
EnChroma reach its next level of success."
Dr. Ireland has organized and/or participated as a physician on
medical deployments to Greece,
Germany, Iraq, Bangladesh, the
United States, and Jordan.
She served as secretary, treasurer and medical director for
international medical Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). She
also helped launch, document adverse events from, and ensure Food
and Drug Administration compliance of GlaxoSmithKline's weight loss
medication alli.
"Dr. Ireland's experience in healthcare and advocacy for global
access to health services will benefit EnChroma immensely," said
Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. "She
joins us at an exciting juncture as we continue to grow our global
footprint and advocate for 'color accessibility'. We know Dr.
Ireland will play a key role in helping EnChroma reach its next
level of success."
"It is an incredible opportunity to work with an organization
like EnChroma that is championing accessibility for populations
whose needs have been ignored for far too long," said Dr. Ireland.
"I, myself, have been disabled by a connective tissue
disorder--which is another reason I am passionate about working
with EnChroma to help others with visual challenges. I have many
people in my life, including family members, who are color blind,
and I've grown up wanting to share the beauty of spring wildflowers
and breathtaking sunsets with my loved ones. I look forward to
lending my expertise to the noble mission of enabling people with
color blindness and other visual impairments to surmount challenges
and experience a more colorful, safer, and independent world."
Dr. Ireland's training spans anesthesiology (University of Connecticut Health Center), surgery
(Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center), acupuncture
(Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture), naturopathy
(Southwest College of Naturopathic
Medicine), molecular environmental biology with an emphasis in
microbiology (University of California,
Berkeley), yoga (Southwest Institute of Healing Arts), and
mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (Benson-Henry Institute for
Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital). A photo of
Dr. Ireland can be downloaded here.
Color blindness affects one in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women
(.5%), an estimated 13 million people in the US and 350 million
people worldwide. While people with normal color vision see over
one million colors, individuals with red-green color blindness only
see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. As a result, many colors
containing red or green appear dull, muted, washed out or
indistinguishable.
Enchroma Glasses and Advocacy
EnChroma glasses are engineered with special optical filters
that help the red-green color blind experience an expanded range of
colors more vibrantly and distinctly. The glasses do not deliver
full color vision and results and reaction times vary. EnChroma
glasses enhance color for approximately 80% of people with
deuteranomalous or protanomalous red-green color blindness who have
all three of their color cones functioning properly. Read this
study by UC Davis on the effectiveness of the glasses.
EnChroma is the lead advocate for "color accessibility," helping
universities, state and national parks, libraries, museums, and
other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to color
blind students and guests. EnChroma donates a pair of glasses for
each pair an organization buys to lend to the public or
students.
About EnChroma
Based in Berkeley, California,
EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for color blindness and low
vision, and other solutions for color vision, sold online and
through Authorized Retailers worldwide. Invented in 2010,
EnChroma's patented eyewear combines the latest in color
perception, neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives
of people with color vision deficiency around the world. EnChroma
received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health
(NIH). It earned the 2020 Innovation Award in Life Sciences from
the Bay Area's East Bay Economic Development Alliance. For more
information, visit enchroma.com.
EnChroma
Kent Streeb
Vice President of Communications and Partnerships
kent@enchroma.com
Media Contact
Kent Streeb, EnChroma, 1
5309089225, kent@enchroma.com, www.enchroma.com
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SOURCE EnChroma