2025 Naomi “Jo” Svochak GP Practitioner of the Year

Presented to Dr. Muriel Schornack

About the Recipient

Dr. Schornack has been a champion of specialty contact lenses throughout her career. She began her career in 1999 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In her position in the Department of Ophthalmology, Dr. Schornack has fit specialty lenses for patients with a medical need for contact lenses, and was an early adopter of scleral lenses in treating these patients. Throughout her career, she has contributed numerous lectures, abstracts, and manuscripts to the field of specialty lenses, making a tremendous impact on the contact lens field. To date, she has published 53 manuscripts and written 4 published book chapters on topics related to contact lens wear and complications from lens wear.

In 2014, Dr. Schornack was a founding member of the Scleral lenses in Current Ophthalmic Practice Evaluation (SCOPE) group. Her continued work with the SCOPE group of researchers has culminated in 24 manuscripts with a total of 446 citations to date. These papers have provided practitioners with a definitive roadmap as to the methods needed to fit and assess scleral lenses, complications associated with scleral lens wear, and, and the use of technology when fitting patients with keratoconus. Her energy is infectious and she makes others sparkle around her.

She continues to work collaboratively with other contact lens practitioners and researchers, advancing our collective understanding of ocular health and contact lenses that can impact the lives of patients. Her dedication to the contact lens field has benefitted countless practitioners and patients, and her leadership will undoubtedly result in many practitioners joining the cause.

Muriel Schornack, OD, FAAO, FSLS
Mayo Clinic
Schornack.Muriel@mayo.edu