COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND WELCOMES DOCTOR OF LOW VISION SERVICES SHEALEEN BLUM, O.D.

Washington, DC (August 28, 2005) -- Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (CLB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing programs and services to people who are blind or visually impaired, announces the appointment of Dr. Shealeen Blum as Doctor of Low Vision Services. 

As Doctor of Low Vision Services, Dr. Blum provides low vision care to people who have vision impairments that cannot be corrected with conventional glasses or contacts, surgery or medication.   She also oversees the Low Vision department’s educational programs about eye health for children, working-age adults and senior citizens with vision impairments.

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Blum to the CLB team,” says Peter DeMayo, President and CEO of Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind.  “Low vision affects more than 10 million people in the United States of all ages and backgrounds.  Our goal is to help individuals who are visually impaired learn to maximize their useable vision so that they can continue to enjoy a life of independence.”

Dr. Blum joins CLB from the William Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center at The Eye Institute in Philadelphia PA, where she completed her residency in Low Vision Rehabilitation.  She is a 2004 graduate of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry where she received her Doctorate in Optometry and was awarded for Clinical Excellence.  She earned her B.S. in Visual Science from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2001 after completing her B.S. in Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1998. 

Dr. Blum completed a Pediatric/Binocular Vision and Vision Rehabilitation internship at The Eye Institute as well as Ocular Disease externships at The Western Blind Rehabilitation Center at the Veterans Administration in Palo Alto CA and The Norton Sound Health Corporation in Nome AK.  She is licensed in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.  Her areas of interest and expertise include Low Vision Rehabilitation, Pediatric Eye Care and Special Needs, Ocular Disease and Pathology. 

Dr. Blum is a member of the American Optometric Association, the AOA low vision section and the American Academy of Optometry.