{"id":1524,"date":"2025-10-21T12:48:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T12:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:51:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T12:51:18","slug":"uminho-researcher-honored-by-the-american-academy-of-optometry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/2025\/10\/21\/uminho-researcher-honored-by-the-american-academy-of-optometry\/","title":{"rendered":"UMinho Researcher Honored by the American Academy of Optometry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sofia Matos, a researcher at the School of Sciences of the University of Minho (ECUM), has been distinguished by the American Academy of Optometry with the prestigious Garland W. Clay Award<\/strong>, recognizing the most impactful scientific article of the year in the field. The award was presented at the Academy 2025 Boston<\/strong> meeting in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entitled \u201cLong-term effect of dual-focus contact lenses on myopia progression in children\u201d<\/em>, the article <\/a>was published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science<\/strong> and co-authored by nine researchers from the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, and Australia, along with the scientific director of CooperVision. The team has been conducting an international clinical study for several years and had already received the same award in 2021 for another publication. \u201cIt is an honor to receive this award again, which recognizes our contributions over the last five years,\u201d says Sofia Matos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent research analyzed the impact of dual-focus soft contact lenses (MiSight 1 Day) on myopia progression in children over a six-year period. The results showed a significant and sustained slowdown in myopia progression, as well as in axial eye growth. Children who switched from conventional lenses to treatment lenses after three years also recorded a 71% reduction<\/strong> in eye growth. The effect was maintained throughout the six years and was well tolerated in 90% of cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These lenses have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first clinically proven product to slow myopia progression in children aged 8 to 12 at the start of treatment. \u201cThe clinical trial underlying this work is a milestone in advancing myopia control in children, highlighting the impact that collaborative research can have on global visual health,\u201d adds Sofia Matos, noting the contribution of the Clinical and Experimental Optometry Research Laboratory (CEORLab)<\/strong> of UMinho\u2019s Department of Physics, in collaboration with international partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Garland W. Clay Award is one of the most prestigious distinctions in the field worldwide. Established in 1978, it recognizes the best articles published in the American Journal of Optometry and Physiological Optics<\/em> (now Optometry and Vision Science<\/em>), based on criteria such as originality, clinical relevance, research integrity, and quality of presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the Researcher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sofia Cl\u00e1udia Peixoto de Matos holds a degree in Optometry and Vision Sciences from UMinho, where she also completed a master\u2019s degree in Advanced Optometry. She is co-author of several scientific articles and book chapters and has collaborated on multiple national and international projects. She is a researcher at CEORLab<\/strong> and a lecturer in UMinho\u2019s Department of Physics, also practicing clinical and management activities in optometry in the private sector. Her research focuses on contact lenses and myopia control.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sofia Matos, a researcher at the School of Sciences of the University of Minho (ECUM), has been distinguished by the American Academy of Optometry with the prestigious Garland W. Clay Award, recognizing the most impactful scientific article of the year in the field. The award was presented at the Academy 2025 Boston meeting in the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1525,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1526,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1524\/revisions\/1526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opticapro.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}