2:30min
Congratulations to the finalists of the OV/SA 2025 Optometrist of the Year Award: Ahmed Azzam; Janelle Scully and Chamini Wijesundera. Meet each of these outstanding optometrists and discover how they have made invaluable contributions to our profession.
Members are invited to celebrate the winners of all OV/SA Award categories at the OV/SA Awards presentation on 17 November at the South East Melbourne Regional Series. Book here.
Ahmed Azzam
For Ahmed Azzam, optometry is not just a profession, it’s a calling to serve marginalised and vulnerable populations. He leads with heart, not for accolades, but because he genuinely cares about people.
Ahmed’s quiet commitment reaches many corners of his community. He provides free home eye exams for patients with mobility challenges or severe health issues, which has been life-changing for those who would otherwise be unable to access essential eye care. AMES Australia connects newly arrived migrants and financially vulnerable individuals without a Medicare card with Ahmed, who provides them with free eye tests and glasses.
Having completed the Australian College of Optometry’s (ACO) Advanced Certificate in Children’s Vision to hone his passion for paediatric optometry, Ahmed volunteers for school vision screenings, ensuring children receive the eye care they need for learning and development. He has a knack for explaining vision issues in simple terms to students, making them feel at ease while educating them for life, and emphasising the importance of any follow-up treatment to caregivers.
In his quest for continual improvement across the profession, Ahmed leads a group of about 20 optometrists who meet regularly to discuss cases, educate one another, and share advice.
Ahmed’s work is driven by a genuine passion for improving eye health and a profound sense of care for every patient. He has changed lives by restoring sight and independence for people who would otherwise go without. His unwavering kindness and commitment to treating everyone with respect and dignity make him a true role model.
Janelle Scully
Janelle is a talented clinician with expertise in ocular disease management and paediatric optometry, providing compassionate care to complex and marginalised communities.
She is currently the Manager of Ocular Disease and Diagnostic Services at the Australian College of Optometry (ACO) Eye Health, which provides around 60,000 consultations each year, targeting vulnerable communities who would otherwise struggle to access eye care.
Janelle has been at the forefront of expanding the optometry scope of practice and relationship-building with public and private ophthalmology over the past 10 years. The following initiatives are a testament to her leadership in these areas:
Glaucoma collaborative programs: Janelle leads crucial glaucoma services at the ACO, facilitating care for those who may face barriers to accessing public ophthalmology services. She has been pivotal in developing collaborative models with institutions such as the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, bridging the gap between optometry and ophthalmology. She is an early completer of Optometry Australia’s Glaucoma Advanced Practice Recognition (APR) program.
Public health eye care programs: Janelle has coordinated diabetes eye screening programs within public hospital interdisciplinary endocrinology clinics. She has strengthened the visibility and impact of public optometry by integrating it with other disciplines.
Rural and First Nations eye care: Through collaborations with organisations such as the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service and the Brien Holden Foundation, Janelle has provided culturally appropriate services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in metropolitan Melbourne, rural Victoria as well as the Barkly region in the Northern Territory.
Janelle is a dedicated mentor and educator, having supervised final-year optometry students from various Australian universities for over 15 years. She plays an invaluable role in preparing future optometrists to confidently manage complex ocular diseases.
These achievements, coupled with her status as a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Australian College of Optometry, and completion of the Health Sector Leadership Program (Leadership Victoria), underscore Janelle’s dedication to evidence-based practice and lifelong learning.
Chamini Wijesundera
An innovator in neuro-optometry and a pioneer in clinical research, Chamini Wijesundera is revolutionising the way we approach post-stroke eye care.
As a PhD candidate, Chamini used portable iPad-based technology with the novel Melbourne Rapid Field-Neural App to assess the vision of bedridden patients within 48-72 hours of a stroke, a method she was among the first researchers to implement. This work revealed that around 68% of stroke patients have vision issues. Her research found that testing for finer details, such as visual acuity in noise, visuomotor control, and visual fields, could correctly diagnose 92% of recent stroke cases.
Building on these findings, in 2024, Chamini helped launch a hospital-based neuro-optometry teaching program for The University of Melbourne optometry students under her supervision. The program enables students to perform essential visual assessments on patients in various acute and chronic hospital wards, including emergency, neurology, rehabilitation and palliative care, filling a critical need for the hospital (which lacks an ophthalmology unit) and broadening the overall horizons for optometry.
Chamini’s dedication to optometry has been recognised with accolades including the 2019 Early Career Optometry Victoria Grant Scholarship and the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 2018 Neuro-ophthalmology Society of Australia Conference.
Chamini is not only a talented researcher and clinician but also someone constantly driven to make a difference to people from all walks of life.