Jon Bleiweis joined the Wilmer Eye Institute in June 2021 as a communications specialist with Wilmer’s marketing and communications team. In this role, he will help share scientific discovery and patient success stories, as well as support the communication needs of Wilmer’s eight satellite locations. We spoke with Bleiweis to learn more about his work and what he hopes to contribute as a member of the Wilmer team.

What did you do before coming to Wilmer?

I started my career as a community journalist, writing for a group of publications along the Delaware and Maryland beaches, and later in southwest Baltimore County. I wrote about a variety of topics, including town government, local schools, restaurants and entertainment.

Most recently, I worked at the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in the strategic communications directorate, where I primarily wrote for the installation’s on-post news service. I worked with soldiers and civilians to promote the work they did on the installation to enhance readiness and complete missions.

What is your favorite thing about writing?

What I like about writing is being able to share the passions of others through storytelling. I enjoy explaining how things work, simplifying the complicated and showing readers a perspective that they might not otherwise see. I like helping to get important information out to people in an approachable way.

What drew you to Wilmer?

I enjoy writing about topics that are interesting, meaningful and have some sort of complexity to it, and I think this opportunity at Wilmer easily checks all three of those boxes. Another thing that drew me to Wilmer, as a Baltimore resident, was finding a job that is local to me. I like the idea of being able to showcase Wilmer as one of the many things that makes Baltimore special.

What are you most looking forward to at Wilmer?

I’m looking forward to learning more about ophthalmology and the work that is done at Wilmer. I don’t have a medical background, so it’s my goal to comprehend the innovative — and sometimes very technical — work that the Wilmer team is doing and be able to share it in a way that can be understood by a wide audience.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I’m a big baseball fan and can often be found at a game with a scorecard on my lap and a camera in my hand. I also enjoy cooking and have spent much of the last year working on my pizza game.