Julene Peña, OD, an Optometrist with the Advanced Low Vision Clinic for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Get to know Optometrist Dr. Julene Peña, who serves patients in Martinez, California.
Julene Peña, O.D., F.A.A.O., is an accomplished optometrist specializing in low vision rehabilitation. She works with patients who are visually impaired or with traumatic brain injuries, and currently serves with distinction at the Advanced Low Vision Clinic for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Martinez, California.
Dr. Peña obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington before pursuing her Doctor of Optometry degree from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. She further honed her skills through the Southern California College of Optometry low vision residency program. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (F.A.A.O.), a prestigious designation that recognizes her academic achievement and honors in the field of Optometry.
Dr. Peña’s family played an important role in her career. She first became interested in vision and learning about the eyes when her brother started losing his eyesight at the age of ten. She always wanted to find ways to help him continue to do all the things kids do despite his vision loss. He became a world-champion powerlifter and has traveled the world. He inspired her to pursue a career helping blind and visually impaired people. Dr. Peña’s parents encouraged her to choose a meaningful career close to her heart, too. It was also thanks to her grandfather, a veteran, that led to her decision to pursue a career with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
At the VA, Dr. Peña’s patients include low-vision elderly WWII veterans in their 90s and even 100s. The main causes of low vision are diabetes, macular degeneration and glaucoma. She helps these patients maximize their remaining vision and regain their independence and confidence with such things as specialty glasses, telescopes, magnifiers, electronic magnifiers, and talking scanners. She also works with veterans who have suffered traumatic brain injuries from military blasts, motor vehicle accidents, and cerebral vascular accidents. These patients often have photophobia, focusing inabilities, and double vision. Dr. Peña has expertise in accommodative and vergence testing and correction with prisms, which allows her to serve the needs of these patients.
While Dr. Peña focuses on veterans in her role at the VA, throughout her career she has dedicated herself to providing exceptional care to visually impaired people of all ages. While studying at the University of Washington, she tested infants from 0–12 weeks olat the Teller Acuity Laboratory. After earning her Doctor of Optometry, Dr. Peña served a range of patients during her residency training, including 0–3 year olds with low vision or cortical vision impairment. Later, she worked at the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind in Washington, D.C., as the Director of Low Vision Services, where she served many children and young adults with low vision.
Dr. Peña’s passion for helping others and her commitment to staying at the forefront of advancements in optometry have made her an invaluable asset to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Peña’s expertise in low vision rehabilitation allows her to assist patients in maximizing their visual potential and improving their quality of life. She is often told she is a patient’s last hope as their other doctors have said to them that there is nothing else they can do. Dr. Peña cares deeply about finding a way to help every one of her patients. Her compassionate approach and dedication to her patients have earned her the trust and admiration of both her colleagues and the veterans she serves.
Dr. Peña has several accolades, including the William Feinbloom Low Vision Award, the Beta Sigma Kappa Research Grant, and the Minnie F. Turner Memorial Fund for Impaired Vision Research. She also received the Beta Sigma Kappa Top Grant Prize for Best Completed Student Research for “The Epidemiology for Pediatric Low Vision in the State of Oregon.”
Dr. Peña’s extensive education, experience, and the hope she offers to her patients has improved lives and is an asset to the field of optometry.
Learn More about Dr. Julene Peña:
Through her findatopdoc profile, https://www.findatopdoc.com/doctor/2679356-Julene-Pe-a-Optometrist
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