Bill Mattingly Memorial Scholarship

2019 Receipients

Dr. Tiana Berezu                                     Jessica Broodryk

Dr. Tiana Berezu was awarded a $2500 scholarship in the Spring of 2019. A graduate of the NSU College of Optometry in Florida, Dr. Berezu is currently a Low Vision Resident at the same institution.  She became interested in low vision when a childhood friend was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa.  She enjoys teaching low vision laboratory to third year optometry students and serving as a clinical preceptor for fourth year students.  Her current research is focused on the use of tele-rehabilitation for low vision patients involving a multidisciplinary team that includes optometry and occupational therapy specialists, as well as optometry student volunteers and Lions Club volunteers.  Dr. Berezu itends on presenting this research at the American Academy of Optometry meeting as well as publishing a paper in the Vision and Science journal.  Dr. Berezu is excited to pursue a faculty position at NSU where she can continue teaching and serving patients in the school clinic as well as managing low vision patients at the Lighthouse of Broward and working to educate her community about resources available to the visually impaired in Ft. Lauderdale.

Optometry student Jessica Broodryk was awarded a $1000 scholarship in the Spring of 2019. She is a fourth year student at the University of Missouri at St. Louis College of Optometry.  Her passion for low vision is driven by the fact that she loves "how low vision optometry gives me the opportunity to directly impact the quality of life of each person who walks through my door.  I also admire the innovations and technology that continue to advance the field and open up new possibilities for people with visual impairment." Jessica received two scholarships which include the 2017-2019 Dr. William R. Jackson Memorial Scholarship and the Bellingrath Scholarship in Optometry, 2018-2019. Last summer, Jessica took the intiative to shadow Dr. Kathleen Boland at both the Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments and the St. Louis Society for the Blind and Visually Impaired, where Dr. Boland noted that "her questions and observations demonstrated her passion toward the optometic profession and its patients."