UCD School of Medicine recent alumnus Ethan Waisberg has won the U21 Provost Award 
with his project ‘Preventing Blindness with Space Medicine Technology’.
The U21 RISE (Real Impact on Society and Environment) 2023 Showcase ‘highlights student-led social entrepreneurship projects that aim to make a real difference in the world around us and leave a positive mark on society.’ The winners receive seed funding from U21 to help further their social enterprises.
As explained on the U21 site, Ethan’s project focuses on how, ‘around the world, one billion people already live with preventable visual impairment. With aging populations globally, novel methods of vision screening are increasingly needed, especially in developing countries that lack easy access to ophthalmic care. Building on previous NASA-funded work assessing astronaut’s vision in space, Ethan’s project uses low-cost Virtual Reality headsets combined with artificial intelligence to provide new possibilities for vision tests. On receiving the Provost’s Award, Ethan commented: “This prize will help cover my costs to travel to East Africa to test this vision assessment technology in a rural community eye care centre. This technology provides new possibilities for eye screening in underserved communities, and I am excited to take this next big step thanks to your award’’’.
A huge congratulations to Ethan on this fantastic achievement.