Paulette Schmidt
Dr. Paulette Schmidt received the Doctor of Optometry degree in 1973 and the M.S. degree in Physiological Optics in 1976 from The Ohio State University. Currently, she is tenured as a Professor of Optometry and Vision Science in the College of Optometry at Ohio State and a member of the Graduate Faculty of the University. Her research and teaching interests are centered on vision testing in infants and children, particularly pediatric vision screening. In researching the development of the human visual system of infants and young children, Dr. Schmidt has been the recipient of four NEI grant awards and has been a Visiting Research Professor at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in England. She is currently the Principal Investigator and Study Chairperson for the Vision In Preschoolers Study, a NEI-funded multi-center research project investigating the effectiveness of vision screening tests. She brings over 25 years of experience in directing community vision screening on more tan 70,000 school-age and pre-school children to her investigations.
Since 1990, she has served in an advisory capacity on pediatric vision screening issues to the Ohio Department of Health, the Vision Screening Committee of Prevent Blindness Ohio, and the Pediatric Advisory Committee (for Vision Screening) of Prevent Blindness America. Dr. Schmidt served as Chairperson of the Pediatric Committee of the American Academy of Optometry from 1994-1998. She was an invited member of the expert panel for the Vision Screening in the Preschool Child Conference sponsored by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the National Eye Institute, September 1998. She serves as a member (ex officio) of the Preschool Vision Screening Project of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Dr. Schmidt is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, American Public Health Association, Ohio Public Health Association, American Optometric Association, Ohio Optometric Association, and is a member of the Board of Regents of Beta Sigma Kappa (international academic honor society). Her professional activities have covered a broad area including directing programs for optometric paraprofessionals, service on the National Advisory Council on Health Professions Education, and consultant to the Ophthalmic and Radiological devices Panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She has been honored with several awards including the Herbert Mote Distinguished Teaching Award, the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award (Prevent Blindness in Ohio), and being named the Outstanding Young Career Woman in the State of Ohio. Dr. Schmidt received the 1997 Galileo Award from the American Foundation for Vision Awareness for research excellence in children’s vision and learning. In 1998, she was elected to the National Academy of Practice as a scholar member and was awarded the Warren G. Morris Optometrist of the Year Award by the Ohio Optometric Association. Co-author VIP Study manuscript that was recognized with the “Editor’s Choice Award” selected from among over 750 papers by editors of the journals Archives of Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology and Journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology
- Editor's Choice Award, Opthalmology, Archives of Opthalmology and Journal of American Academy of Opthalmology,
- Sensitivity of screening tests for detecting vision in preschoolers-targeted vision disorders when specificity is 94%. (2005). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 82(5).
- Comparison of preschool vision screening tests as administered by licensed eye care professionals in the Vision In Preschoolers Study. (2004). Ophthalmology, 111(4).
- The electronic visual acuity tester: testability in preschool children. (2004). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 81(4).
- Threshold visual acuity testing of preschool children using the crowded HOTV and Lea Symbols acuity tests. (2003). Journal of AAPOS : the official publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus / American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, 7(6).
- Relationship between visual skills and performance on saccadic eye movement testing. (1998). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 75(4).
- The relation of clinical saccadic eye movement testing to reading in kindergartners and first graders. (1997). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 74(1).
- Reliability of the NYSOA King-Devick saccadic eye movement test in kindergartners and first graders. (1997). Journal of the American Optometric Association, 68(9).
- Visual predictors of reading performance in kindergarten and first grade children. (1996). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 73(4).
- Effect of oculomotor and other visual skills on reading performance: a literature review. (1996). Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry, 73(4).
- Detecting ocular and visual anomalies in a vision screening setting using the Lang stereotest. (1994). Journal of the American Optometric Association, 65(10).