The Eye Love Project
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Why create The Eye Love Project?
OHSU Casey Eye Institute's mission is to eliminate preventable blindness and improve quality of life through leadership in the art, science and technology of 21st century eye care. Choosing the year 2020 as a playful connection to "20/20" normal vision, we feel this is the perfect time to focus on our eyes and what they do for us.
That’s why we are powering The Eye Love Project – a mobile multimedia exhibit that celebrates the wonder of vision and raises awareness of the importance of eye health. The best way to help keep people's eyes healthy and save sight is to increase awareness of how to take care of our eyes!
The exhibit
The Eye Love Project exhibit will travel among major community partners in Portland throughout the year, such as the Oregon Zoo and the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Shaped like giant eyes, you can step inside to a recording booth, where we encourage everyone to record video messages about what their vision means to them and share memories of special, visual moments in life. All with the combined mission of raising awareness of eye health and the wonder of sight.
Join us for an event in 2020
We invite you to participate in The Eye Love Project by coming to our exhibit and sharing your story about what vision means to you. All are welcome!
We will be adding events throughout the year, so check back often to view an updated schedule!
Focus on your vision in 2020
Healthy eyes start with a regular comprehensive eye exam and healthy habits. If you have any change in vision, have it checked out by an eye care professional right away.
The three leading causes of blindness in the U.S. may surprise you, and they can happen to anyone: glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease. Take Care of Your Eyes Now For Good Vision In Later Life.
How do I care for my eyes?
Ages 20 to 40: Get an eye exam every five years, unless you experience any problems such as visual changes, pain, flashes of light, new floaters or tearing, or if you have an eye injury.
Ages 40 to 64: Get an eye exam every two to four years.
Over age 65: Get an eye exam every one to two years.
How do I care for my child's eyes?
Children should be see an eye doctors once at six to 12 months of age, at least once between three and five years old before first grade, and then annually after that.
Learn more
To learn more about eye health and common eye diseases, visit our For Patients page.
Eliminating preventable blindness
80% of blindness is preventable.
OHSU Casey Eye Institute provides expertise and patient care in the clinic, but a key part of ending preventable blindness is what we can do outside our doors and in the community.
The Eye Love Project is just one community program that we provide to reach our goal of ending preventable blindness and raising awareness of the importance of vision. All of our programs help people across the state of Oregon and around the world access quality eye care, especially those who need it most.
Physical expansion doubles capacity with new building
The Elks Children's Eye Clinic will be the nation's first freestanding eye clinic for pediatric patients, representing a world-class hub for innovative research, subspecialty patient care and leading-edge programs in gene therapy, preschool vision screening and telemedicine for retinopathy of prematurity. In this 60,000-square-foot building specifically designed for a new era in ophthalmology, we will have the tools, technology and talent to detect eye disease earlier, diagnose it more accurately and provide the most effective treatments possible. Learn more about the building.
Casey Community Outreach Program mobile clinic
Since its first voyage in 2010, Casey's mobile outreach clinic has traveled across Oregon to bring eye care to underserved communities. Our 33-foot mobile ophthalmology vehicle is staffed by volunteers and identifies participants with common preventable and treatable eye conditions that often cause blindness, including macular degeneration, glaucoma and vision problems relating to diabetes. Learn more.
Promising treatments and gene therapy
OHSU Casey Eye Institute is one of the leading centers in the world for new treatments and research for people with genetic eye diseases of the retina. Called gene therapy, this treatment involves replacing non-working genes with healthy copies to slow or halt vision loss. Learn more.
Supporting eye health world-wide
The most common treatable eye conditions include river blindness, retinopathy of prematurity, glaucoma and cataract – areas where OHSU Casey Eye Institute has the expertise to make a difference.
The OHSU Casey Eye Institute’s International Ophthalmology Program strives to reduce treatable and preventable blindness around the world by sharing its best resources with the doctors working in developing countries: knowledge and training. Learn more about our international ophthalmology programs.