March 2024

Meeting Date
  • Opening quotation 
    • “My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment isn’t accessible.”- Stella Young
  • Agenda 
    • A Dream Coming into Focus- Joe Myers
    • Background about Joe Myers
      • Has been providing optometry services to the U of M community for 30 years
      • Has been involved in initiates to get eye care to areas of Jamaica that do not normally have accessible eye care.
      • Has been working on groundbreaking research initiatives related to concussion evaluations.
      • Works within the University Health Services System
      • Dual citizen of the US and Canada
      • Graduated from U of M Optometry in 1988 with a degree in optometry. After he began working for U of M.
    • Mentors
      • Don Hafner- Former Assistant Dean at the school of Public Health
      • Howard Salt- Joe’s boss at UHS
      • Avedis Donabedian- Creator of healthcare quality assurance. 
      • Work as equal to equals
    • Motivations for Joe’s career
      • Loves the people and places that he and his team deliver healthcare to.
      • Values basing work on trying to help individuals on an equal to equal basis.
    • Background on his work in Jamaica
      • 1994 trip to Jamaica to help with multidisciplinary work.
        • His team was bothered by the fact they would leave communities without plans to follow-up or visit again. The work was moving from one community to the next without assuring care over time.
      • As a result Joe and Richard Cross co-founded the Eye Health Institute.
    • The Eye Health Institute
      • Within this program they returned to the same communities and became the communities primary eye care providers.
      • They would revisit each year and provide the community with eye care but would also monitor their other conditions and give them medications.
      • Would take high tech equipment down to Jamaica to serve over 8,700 individuals and provided more than 4,200 pairs of glasses to individuals free of charge.
        • Humidity killed the high tech equipment so they would need to replace it. 
      • Third Century Initiative
        • Spoke with a patient who could help create container clinics (architecturally repurposed containers also known as ARCs) to help dehumidify the equipment so it did not need to be constantly replaced. As a result they made plans to make a clinic that was dehumidified and air conditioned. To make it sustainable they also made it solar powered. It also functioned as a community center.
        • Worked with the community to address their wants and needs. 
      • Video about the clinic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qfhuoYZoIY&t=5s 
      • Repurposing
        • Repurpose the clinic for other needs
          • Allowed for the development of para-practitioners who could deliver healthcare and communicate with practitioners
          • Allowed for vaccines to be kept and brought into the community.
        • Developed surgical suites
          • Went down for contamination.
        • Services done at the clinic are not charged.
        • Montego Bay surgical suites
          • Government built an environment around it that was sanitized allowing patients to not worry about contamination.
      • Call Center for Blind Users
        • Robert Blake- he was shot in the head resulting in his optic nerves being severed. They trained Blake to be a call center practitioner.
      • Bigger Dreams
        • To develop more units like this.
        • Dream to start a business to fund this project.
      • Background on the Project
        • In order to quickly diagnose a concussion use retinal oximetry to measure the oxygenation coming off the optic nerve.
          • Would determine if someone is concussed and how bad the concussion is.
      • What is being developed?
        • A handheld non-invasive device  that is used for preventing RTD concussion and secondary incidents
      • Why is it important?
        • Currently 5.3 million americans living with long term disability due to concussion.
      • Current Diagnostic Tools
        • CT scans
          • Problem: they do not detect all TBIs (even mild ones)
        • Blood tests
          • Problem: invasive
      • Solution
        • Their handheld device
          • Positives of this device: Non-invasive, real-time results that allow coaches, nurses, parents, etc. the ability to detect if someone has  a concussion.
        • Practitioners can determine whether there is an injury to the brain.
        • Provide a referenceable value
        • Handheld Device to Diagnose TBI in less than 60 seconds
      • Value Proposition
        • Can be used within disabilities patients
          • If they have a concussion
          • When they are recovering
          • When they can go back to work
      • ADA and Concussion Outcomes
        • Getting this developed so people everywhere can use it
        • To be used by athletic trainers and professionals
        • Ultimately as accessible as an AED 
      • Systems integration
        • Profits accessed from this can be used to create container clinics.
      • Takeaways
        • Innovation is about realizing one's dreams
        • Innovation depends on diversity and many voices at the table
      • Questions/Comments: 
  • Announcements