In collaboration with the UNSW School for Optometry and Vision Science, Optometry NSW/ACT is hosting a very special event.
Hear from international subject matter experts live from Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada and Japan on the latest Tear Film and Ocular Surface TFOS Lifestyle Epidemic Workshop, about a range of lifestyle factors that impact the ocular surface.
- FREE for OA members
- 2T CPD hours
- Via Zoom (link to be sent closer to event)
Schedule
Time Topic
6.30pm Introductions hosted by Optometry NSW/ACT
6.35pm Introduction to the TFOS Lifestyle Workshop (Jennifer Craig)
6.40pm Impact of lifestyle challenges on the ocular surface (Ceecee Britten-Jones)
6.50pm Impact of societal challenges on the ocular surface (Fiona Stapleton)
7.00pm Impact of nutrition on the ocular surface (Maria Markoulli)
7.10pm Impact of elective medications and procedures on the ocular surface (Etty Bitton)
7.20pm Impact of environmental conditions on the ocular surface (Murat Dogru)
7.30pm Impact of cosmetics on the ocular surface (Jennifer Craig)
7.40pm Impact of contact lenses on the ocular surface (Isabelle Jalbert)
7.50pm Impact of the digital environment on the ocular surface (James Wolffsohn)
8.00pm Q&A panel Chaired by Jennifer Craig
8.30pm Finish
Speaker Bios
A/Prof Maria Markoulli is an Associate Professor and the Director of Learning and Teaching at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW in Sydney, Australia. She was chair of the recently published Tear Film and Ocular Surface (TFOS) society Lifestyle report which reviewed the evidence on the impact of nutrition on the ocular surface. She was also on the pathophysiology sub-committee of the TFOS Dry Eye Workshop II, and the Contact Lens Discomfort workshop. She is deputy editor for Clinical and Experimental Optometry and the Academic Lead of the UNSW Dry Eye Clinic.
Prof Jennifer P Craig is therapeutic research optometrist and a Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where she heads the Ocular Surface Laboratory. Since being awarded her PhD on the tear film in the normal and dry eye, Jennifer has maintained her research interest in the ocular surface, primarily dry eye disease and tear film dysfunction. She regularly delivers continuing education and research lectures internationally, and publishes widely in both the scientific and clinical press with over 165 published peer-reviewed articles. She is co-author of the book ‘The Tear Film’ and has contributed to the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s International Workshops on Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Contact Lens Discomfort, as Vice-Chair for TFOS DEWS II and as Chair of the recently published TFOS International Workshop on A Lifestyle Epidemic: Ocular Surface Disease. Jennifer is a past chair of the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board of New Zealand, leads international multicentre clinical trials, and holds a number of visiting academic appointments across the world.
Prof Isabelle Jalbert is a Canadian trained OD and therapeutic optometrist and Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW Sydney, where she heads a program of research and education focused on improving the delivery of evidence-based eyecare in Australia and teaches therapeutic management of anterior eye diseases.
Prof James Wolffsohn is both a Professor of Optometry at Aston University, since 2000, and Head of the School of Optometry. His main research areas are the development and evaluation of ophthalmic instrumentation, contact lenses, intraocular lenses, and the tear film. He is a National Teaching Fellow, has published more than 315 full peer-reviewed papers, and presented at numerous international conferences. He is academic Chair of the British Contact Lens Association, is on the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Executive and is the International Myopia Institute’s Chief Scientific Officer.
Prof Fiona Stapleton, AO is a Scientia Professor at UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science, Sydney. In 2023, she was recognised with an Order of Australia (AO) for her distinguished service to optometry as a researcher, mentor and role model, to tertiary education, and to national and international organisations. Fiona is Immediate Past-President of the International Society for Contact Lens Research; a member of the Steering Committee for TFOS DEWS II and the recent TFOS Lifestyle Report; Chair of the Epidemiology Subcommittee – for TFOS DEWS II and Head of the Eye Research Group at UNSW. Fiona is a clinical scientist, trained in the UK, with expertise in basic and translational research in the fields of dry eye, corneal infection, ocular microbiology, and contact lens related disease. Her research aims to improve understanding of the epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of sight-threatening ocular diseases. She has received several international awards for her research, including the 2018 H Barry Collin Research Medal from Optometry Australia. She was nominated to the Australian Academy of Science, Technology and Engineering in 2018, to Life Fellowship of the British College of Optometrists in 2019, is a Diplomate in the Cornea, Contact Lens and Refractive Technologies Section of the AAO and Fellow of the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia and British Contact Lens Association.
Dr Ceecee Britten-Jones is a clinician-researcher at the University of Melbourne. Ceecee completed her optometry degree at the University of Auckland and PhD at the University of Melbourne. She leads research projects in ocular genetics and was recently involved in the TFOS Lifestyle Epidemic global workshop. Ceecee also practices at the Australian College of Optometry in the contact lens clinics and teaches at the University of Melbourne. She is a Melbourne Research Fellow, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Science Communication Fellow, veski Victoria Fellow, and was awarded the 2023 OVSA Rising Star in Optometry award.
Dr Etty Bitton completed her Optometry degree at the University of Waterloo, followed by a Masters in Physiological Optics from the Université de Montréal in the area of tear film clinical physiology and its relevance in contact lens patients and those exhibiting dry eye. Dr. Bitton presently holds the rank of full professor and is the Director of the Externship Program and the Dry Eye Clinic at the University of Montreal. Dr. Bitton was invited to join the global initiatives on advancing dry eye (TFOS DEWSII and Lifestyle Epidemic: Ocular Surface Disease) and is a member of several international organizations.
Dr Murat Dogru is currently a practicing ophthalmologist and a researcher with a research laboratory in Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Born in Turkey, he was the first academician from Turkey and the whole continental Europe to acquire a Japanese Medical License to practice in the field of ophthalmology. He is an internationally recognized expert in ocular surface disorders, dry eyes, ocular allergy and ocular inflammation. He conducts both basic and translational research in the field of corneal and ocular surface inflammation and oxidative stress. He studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of ocular inflammation with applications to autoimmunity, dry eye disease, contact lens wear and ocular allergy. An executive board member of the international TFOS Society, Asia Dry Eye Society and Japan Dry Eye Research Society, Hakone Dry Eye Club, and a fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO), he has authored more than 320 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has presented more than 200 invited and named lectures worldwide.
