The Arqus Knowledge Pills: 20th Episode of Delving into the Myopia Disease
We are celebrating a milestone with the 20th episode of the Arqus Knowledge Pills. Our guest in this episode is José Manuel González Méijome, Professor of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Minho. He introduces myopia, a widespread disease affecting more than 20% of the world’s population – a number that is on the rise! By 2050, this visual impairment could affect 50% of the population. The professor explains what it is and how it can be treated. He also discussed the effects of screen work and blue light on myopia, and Professor Méijome advised to see better for longer.
José Manuel González-Méijome graduated in Optics and Optometry at the University of Santiago de Compostela in 1997 with an Extraordinary End of Course Prize from the Ministry of Education and Science. In 2001, he joined UMinho as a Visiting Professor, where he completed his PhD in Sciences in 2007. He is the Coordinator of the Clinical and Experimental Optometry Research Lab (CEORLab) and Director of the PhD Program in Optometry and Vision Sciences. In the last years, he was Director of the Dep. of Physics, President of the School of Sciences Council between 2019 and 2021 and Vice President of the School of Sciences between 2013 and 2016. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Optometry and a member of the Editorial Committee of the journals BioMed Research International, Journal of Opthalmology and PlosONE.
José Manuel is a member of the General Council of Colleges of Opticians-Optometrists (Consejo General de Colegios de Ópticos-Optometristas, CGCOO), founding member of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics, an evaluator of the European Council of Optometry and Optics for the European Diploma, Chairman of the Educational Committee of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics, Honorary member of the Galician Society of Clinical Optometry and is one of the Portuguese representatives (Global Ambassadors) of the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS). In 2016 he received the International Optometrist Award of the Year from Univ. Politécnica de Cataluña and, in 2018, the Scientific Merit Prize awarded by UMinho. Currently participates as UMinho co-responsible in a project of the Bosch-UMinho partnership and is coordinator of the European network OBERON Initial Training Network financed by the European Commission with 3.9 million euros. He is the (co-)author of more than 180 articles indexed in the ISI Web of Science, made more than 500 communications and is the author of 20 book chapters and editor of 3 books in the field of Optometry and Vision Sciences.
The episodes of the “Arqus Knowledge Pills” are published on a regular basis and can be subscribed to on Spotify and other platforms (see below). Doriane Duvault (Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1) and Josephine Petzold (Leipzig University) are the moderators that lead listeners through each episode.