MEET OUR SPEAKERS
Prof James Armitage
Prof James Armitage is the Head of Vision Science in the Optometry program in the School of Medicine at Deakin University. James’ clinical practice focuses on the diagnosis and management of dry eye, glaucoma and ocular manifestations of cardiovascular and metabolic disease. James is the recipient of two Vice Chancellor’s awards for excellence in teaching and learning and an Australian Award (Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning). James has served on education committees for the Australian College of Optometry and Optometry Australia over the last decade.
Bao, Kerryn and James worked together to co-ordinate the 2025 Special Issue on “Optometric Education” in Clinical and Experimental Optometry journal.
Emmy Cui
Emmy is the Principal Optometrist at Eye & I Optometrist in Melbourne, Victoria. She graduated from University of Melbourne with ocular therapeutics in 2007 and further pursued her interest in paediatric vision care by completing an advanced certificate in children’s vision.
Her passion lies particularly in myopia management, paediatric care and ocular disease management. Emmy is a strong advocate for increasing awareness of eye health within the community. She has presented at national conferences and webinars in collaboration with organisations such as Johnson & Johnson, Diabetes Victoria and the Vision Initiative. She served as the media spokesperson for World Sight Day in 2020.
Jason Dhana
Jason is an optometrist with almost two decades of experience spanning hospital ophthalmology clinics, academia, and community practice across both New Zealand and Australia. He is dual-registered in both countries and though he is now Sydney-based, he still works as a hospital optometrist in New Zealand, where his oral prescribing rights allow him to manage a wide range of acute ophthalmic conditions. Alongside his hospital work, he has contributed to teaching clinical optometry, participated in professional advocacy for scope expansion, and delivers clinical education to optometrists and optometry students. Today, he will share insights from his unique role, exploring how oral prescribing integrates into hospital-based optometric care and improves patient outcomes.
Donya Eghrari
Donya Eghrari is an optometrist and a public health researcher. She is currently undertaking her PhD focusing on the reproductive healthcare needs of women from refugee background. Donya has led and contributed to co-design of health professional curriculum with people with disability, as well as the evaluation projects looking at participation of diverse communities in the National cancer screening programs, utility of pathogen genomics in Australia and New Zealand during COVID, and the Ways of Knowing program informed by First Nations Knowledges. Today, she will be speaking on the role optometrists can play in correcting for visual inequity.
Helen Gleave
Helen Gleave is the Senior Professional Education and Development Manager for Alcon Australia and New Zealand. She is responsible for face to face and online education programs in contact lenses, dry eye & ocular health. Helen has delivered education to a broad range of audiences, spoken at numerous optometry conferences, educational events and webinars across Australia and New Zealand. She also authors articles for professional health care journals. She qualified as an optometrist from City University in London and owned a practice focused on contact lenses for 15 years. Through her practice she has been a clinical investigator for different contact lens manufacturers and a member of their advisory panels.
Kerryn Hart
Kerryn Hart is an optometrist, Clinical Policy Manager at Optometry Australia, and a lecturer in optometry at Deakin University. She has extensive experience in optometry education and is actively involved in shaping national policies. She has contributed to key projects such as the development of optometry competency standards and has published research in optometry education and clinical practice.
Nicola Lee
Nicola Lee is a staff optometrist at the Centre for Eye Health (CFEH) in Sydney. She received her Master of Clinical Optometry with Excellence and Bachelor of Science (Vision Science) with Distinction from the University of New South Wales, where she also received several academic awards. She has also completed the Optometry Australia Advanced Practice Recognition Program in Glaucoma. Nicola has a passion for improving patient health and visual outcomes, with a focus on early diagnosis and management of ocular disease, patient education and communication.
Adjunct Professor Hemal Mehta
A/Prof Hemal Mehta is an experienced macula disease specialist and cataract surgeon consulting in Strathfield, Norwest, Macquarie Street, Bondi Junction and the Central Coast. He is Co-director of Clinical Trials Research at Strathfield Retina Clinic and has served as principal or sub-investigator in over 50 retinal clinical trials, including emerging treatments aiming to slow geographic atrophy. He is on the editorial board of the Journal Eye and on the RANZCO Therapeutics committee. The clinical research during his previous fellowships at Sydney Eye Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital contributed to his higher research degree from Cambridge University. Hemal is an Adjunct Professor at University of Notre Dame Australia working with the Ocular Pathology Translational Group to identify novel therapeutic targets for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). He is also a Clinical Associate Professor with the University of Sydney Fight Retinal Blindness! registry optimising treatment outcomes for patients with AMD, diabetic retinopathy and retinal vein occlusion. Hemal has contributed to national guidelines on the management of cataract in patients with macula disease.
Dr Bao Nguyen
Dr Bao Nguyen is a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at The University of Melbourne. She currently holds a Momentum Fellowship at The University of Melbourne, and was the first optometrist to receive the BioMedVic Early Career Clinician Researcher Award. She is a passionate advocate for optometry education, previously serving on the Education Committee and as an Education Consultant for Optometry Australia, and is a former Associate Editor for Clinical and Experimental Optometry journal.
Lisa Nivison-Smith
Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith is an NHMRC Research Fellow and Scientia Senior Lecturer at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of New South Wales. She currently leads a team focused on better understanding the early stages of AMD and enhancing the utility of clinical imaging currently used by optometrists to detect and diagnose AMD.
Jessica Patti
Jessica is a Clinical Neuropsychologist with experience working in public hospitals, private practice and school settings in NSW and Victoria. She specialises in working with children and young people and has experience supporting individuals with a range of medical and developmental conditions.
Jessica is also a mother to two children. She believes in the important role that adults play in the lives of young people and is passionate about educating and upskilling others to better support and work with kids.
Scott Read
Scott Read is a Professor of Optometry and Vision Science at the Queensland University of technology, with over 15 years’ experience in vision research. The primary focus of his research has been to better understand the ocular and environmental factors underlying human myopia development and progression. He is internationally recognized for his expertise in ocular imaging and refractive error research. Professor Read was awarded the “Zeiss Young Investigator Award in Myopia Research” for his distinguished contributions to the myopia research field.
In his career to date, Professor Read has authored over 130 peer reviewed research publications and has been awarded, in excess of $3.2 million in research funding from a variety of sources. Scott has been a fellow of the American Academy of Optometry since 2012. He has also been an Editorial Board Member for Clinical and Experimental Optometry and is currently an Editorial Board Member for Optometry and Vision Science.
