Week in review: Female upswing, RP pretender, recycled contacts

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

For the first time ever, the majority of medical students are women. The proportion of women in medical school has been on the upswing, according to a new report, increasing from 46.9% in 2015 to 49.5% in 2018. This year, that percentage reached 50.5%. The continued growth in applicant numbers indicates that the interest in a medical career remains high, which is crucial as the United States faces a projected shortage of 122,000 physicians by 2032. Association of American Medical Colleges

The NEI is seeking your input on future research goals. Members of the public—including physicians, patients, caregivers and the scientific community—are asked to comment on 2 separate initiatives: NEI’s 2020 Vision for the Future and a new research program called the Anterior Segment Initiative (ASI). The former will look to better define the institute’s research opportunities and areas of emphasis, while the ASI plans to address current knowledge gaps about the anterior segment and barriers to research. National Eye Institute

A presumed case of familial retinitis pigmentosa quite literally got the best of physicians. The patient and her father had all the typical symptoms: nyctalopia, mild microcornea, slightly arrow anterior chamber angles without hyperopia and 1+ anterior vitreous cells. Genetic testing, however, revealed a missense mutation in the BEST1 gene, confirming a diagnosis of autosomal dominant vitreoretinochoroidopathy. The patient, whose case was described in the latest issue of Ophthalmology, is expected to have a stable visual prognosis. Ophthalmology

Contact lens wearers and dog lovers unite … sort of. The Guide Dog Foundation just received a shipment of training modules including benches, tables, waste stations and agility ramps made from recycled contact lens materials. So far, the ONE by ONE Recycling Program—the only contact lens recycling program in the United States—has collected more than 95,000 pounds of waste such as contact lenses, blister packs and top foils since its inception in 2016. “We are grateful for the efforts of Bausch + Lomb and TerraCycle in reducing the environmental waste of contact lenses while also making this critical donation to help improve the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired,” said John Miller, CEO, Guide Dog Foundation. Bausch + Lomb, TerraCycle

Prefilled aflibercept syringes are now available in U.S. markets, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced. The single-use 2-mg syringes were approved back in August, and is indicated for 4 conditions: wet AMD, macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion, diabetic macular edema and diabetic retinopathy. Regeneron