SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The University of Utah’s John A. Moran Eye Center today announced that Dr. Kathleen B. Digre, Director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Fellowship at Moran Eye Center and chief of Neurology’s Division of Headache and Neuro-Ophthalmology, has been selected as the University of Zurich’s first Hedi Fritz Niggli visiting professor.
This visiting professorship was established to promote the University of Zurich’s commitment to finding a balance in gender representation by increasing the proportion of women professors and leaders at the university. By bringing in high-profile women through this professorship, the University of Zurich hopes to heighten the visibility of women professors as role models.
“This is a great honor for me and for the Moran Eye Center,” Digre said. “I will be working with the University of Zurich to lay the groundwork for future visiting professors and its goal of ‘filling the gap’—finding and promoting more women faculty.”
Digre will be in residence at the university from February through July 2014. In addition to sharing all that Moran does in the areas of research, patient care and education, Digre will be promoting Webvision and the Neuro-Ophthalmology Virtual Education Library (NOVEL), a partnership with the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library at the University of Utah and the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society.
Long known for her work in championing women’s health issues and women in science, Digre’s specialty is neuro-ophthalmology. She was the first woman president of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, past councilor and secretary for the American Neurological Association, and currently serves as secretary on the board of directors of the American Headache Society. Digre is also the recipient of the Gender Equity Award, Linda Amos Award, the Martha Hughes Cannon Award, the NANOS Distinguished Service Award, and the Rosenblatt Award—the University of Utah’s highest honor.
About Moran Eye Center
The Moran Eye Center is the largest eye care and vision research center in the Intermountain West and is part of the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics. With collaborators from around the world, research advancements at the center provide new diagnoses, novel treatments, and creative new procedures designed to cure blinding eye diseases. Treatments and procedures at the Moran Eye Center focus on a wide range of eye problems, such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, cornea, and external eye diseases. The Moran Eye Center provides the latest in advances in LASIK and refractive surgery as well as a full range of optometry services including contact lenses and eyeglasses.
