Bill Mattingly Memorial Scholarship

2018 Receipients

Dr. Rebecca Deffler          Micaela Gobeille

Dr. Rebecca Deffler was awarded a $2500 scholarship in the Spring of 2018. Her passion as an optometrist in the low vision field is demonstrated in her statement "I love being able to combine my knowledge of community resources with the skills I've gained in the realms of optics and ocular disease."  A graduate of the New England College of Optometry, Dr. Deffler is currently an Advanced Practice Fellow in Low Vision Rehabiliation at the Ohio State University.  In her capacity as a fellow she is working toward a Master's degree in vision science while also teaching third and fourth year optometry clinical students. She has received several awards, some of which include: the 2017 Witkin Leadership in Low Vision Award, The Dr. Leslie Mintz Scholarship in 2016, and the NECO Presidential Scholarship 2013-2017.  Dr. Deffler is passionate about the importance of early low vision referrals so that patients can continue with beloved tasks for more time as their disease progresses. Her thesis work focuses on stress and depression levels in patients receiving active treatment for exudative age related macular degeneration.  

Optometry student Micaela Gobeille was awarded a $1000 scholarship in the Spring of 2018. She is a fourth year student at the New England College of Optometry, and is currently researching the outcomes of low vision rehabilitation delivered by a moblie low vision clinic.  She has received several awards, some of which include: 2017 Edward I. Goodlaw Student Travel Fellowship for AAO, a Beta Sigma Kappa Research Grant in 2016 and the Envision-Atwell Award in 2016. Her professor describes Micaela as "a top student academically, a strong independent researcher, and a confident, capable, and knowledgeable clinician."  In addition to providing excellent care to patients with complex medical histories and profound vision impairments at Boston Medical Center, Micaela serves her peers as a tutor and President of SVOSH. She is preparing for post-graduate training and hopes that her "continued growth will enable her to best serve the low vision population as a doctor, teacher, and clinical researcher."