Staff News

The staff at UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science have shown tremendous resilience and collaborative spirit in 2020. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, we have been fortunate to have some growth and diversification in our research teams and have exceeded in delivering educational excellence to our students. However, we have also regrettably been impacted by workplace change in response to the financial impact of COVID-19 on the University sector.

In February 2020, Professor Konrad Pesudovs was appointed as a part-time Professor to the School of Optometry and Vision Science through the highly competitive UNSW Strategic Hires and Retention Pathways (SHARP) scheme. He brings a wealth of experience to the School and will be researching ophthalmic surgical outcomes, including optical, visual and patient-reported outcomes, ophthalmic epidemiology and neural adaptation.

Also, in February 2020, Emeritus Professor Helen Swarbrick retired from the School of Optometry and Vision Science after a long and illustrious career. Helen commenced her work at the School in 1991 as a Research Optometrist at the Cornea and Contact Lens Research Unit and in 1995 she was appointed to lead contact lens education. Helen is a world leading researcher in the field of orthokeratology who has played an important role in leading the Research in Orthokeratology (ROK) Group at the School of Optometry and Vision Science and the success of the School more broadly. Helen will be missed by her friends, colleagues and students at the School but will remain connected through her appointment as Emeritus Professor at UNSW.

We were delighted to have UNSW Alumni Emilie Ross, A/Prof Anthony Chapman-Davies, Tianni Jia and Dr Rajini Peguda back at UNSW, Emilie as a Staff Optometrist, and Anthony as a Principal Optometrist in our UNSW Optometry Clinic. Rajini returned as a Research Optometrist working with Dr Alex Hui and team and Tianni as a Research Optometrist in our Eye Research Group which collaborates with domestic and international industry partners to evaluate and develop innovative eye care products.

Dr Jessie Huang-Lung joined us as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow following the completion of her PhD at the Centre for Eye Health. Jessie is working with Professor Lisa Keay within our public health team. Her current project involves examining cataract surgery, refractive correction, falls risk and quality of life in older Australians.

Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith, Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Eye Health and Lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, received a prestigious UNSW Scientia Fellowship. This program supports early to mid-career researchers in the top 10% of their field with the aim to develop them into leaders of their field.

Postgraduate alumni, Drs Shyam Tummanapalli, Muhammad Yasir, Parthu Kalaiselvan and Rajesh Kuppusamy were appointed to the School as Postdoctoral Research Fellows and have been working with Professor Mark Willcox in his growing research program.

Dr Sheela Kumaran commenced as a maternity leave replacement for Dr Lisa Dillon and will be building new programs of research with Professors Lisa Keay and Konrad Pesudovs in public health as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Her research focuses on patient reported outcome measures, quality of life, and psychometric evaluation.

In October we farewelled Anna Delmadoros, Principal Optometrist in the UNSW Optometry Clinic. Anna was the Lead Clinician of the Ocular Pathology clinic, supervised and lectured Stage 4 students in primary care and had an extensive list of private patients. Her outstanding professional and organisational skills will be truly missed, and we wish her all the best on her next adventure.

Dr Lisa Asper, Senior Lecturer and Director of Learning and Teaching retired from academia in October 2020, after 32 years at the School. She worked tirelessly in her many roles in the School and was instrumental in coordinating the move to the new Master of Clinical Optometry program. Her wit and dry sense of humour will be missed at our Executive Meetings. Lisa has been appointed as a visiting Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Optometry and Vision Science.

Dr Mei Boon, Senior Lecturer and Director of Optics and Radiometry Laboratory (ORLAB) left us at the end of 2020. Mei, who joined us in 2008, has lectured extensively in our undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She has been an active member of staff holding several service positions throughout UNSW. Most notably she held the position of Alumni Liaison for the School for several years. In 2016 she was appointed as the Director of ORLAB which has thrived under her leadership over the past four years. Through her research she now holds a visiting academic appointment as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer contributing to research student project supervision.

Nicole Harris said goodbye after 18 years of work as an Administration Officer in our Optometry Clinic. Nicole worked closely with the UNSW finance team, our clinic supervisors, and coordinated our Vision Education Centre which provides screening to local school aged children. She also undertook executive assistant duties on a part time basis. Nicole’s bubbly personality will be missed by her colleagues here at the School of Optometry and Vision Science.

We bid farewell to Fi Anderson, Postgraduate Coursework Administrator. Fi was with the School of Optometry and Vision Science for nearly nine years and was a valued member of the team who managed our postgraduate coursework students’ journeys from enrolment to completion.

Finally, Kay Dulhunty who has been with the School for a number of years as our School Manager departed during 2020. Kay has supported four Heads of School during her time at the School of Optometry and Vision Science and the success of the school can be attributed to her many years of excellent operational management.

We sincerely thank all of the abovementioned for their enormous contributions to the School of Optometry and Vision Science and wish them all the very best for 2021 and beyond.

Promotions

We were delighted to announce throughout the year the promotion of some of our academic staff. Dr Pauline Kang was promoted to Senior Lecturer, assumed the role of Director of Learning and Teaching and also joined the School Executive Committee. Dr’s Maria Markoulli and Juno Kim were promoted to Associate Professor and Drs Angelica Ly and Jack Phu were promoted to Lecturer.

Awards

Our staff received national awards as an acknowledgement for their dedication to their profession.

We congratulate Clinic Supervisor Dr William Trinh who was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours where he was awarded an OAM for his contributions to Optometry and his humanitarian work overseas.

Professor Konrad Pesudovs was awarded the H Barry Collin Medal for outstanding research from Optometry Australia. The third School of Optometry and Vision Science staff member to receive this medal in the past four years.

Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton featured in The Australian [see page 18 and scroll down - https://specialreports.theaustralian.com.au/1540291/18/] as one of the top 250 researchers in Australia and was named as the research leader in the field of Ophthalmology and Optometry.

We also congratulate Professor Mark Willcox who was the 2020 recipient of the NHMRC Marshall and Warren Ideas Grant Award for the highest scoring 2019 NHMRC Ideas Grant. His Ideas Grant titled “Tackling Hospital Acquired Infections with Peptide Mimics” is in collaboration with UNSW Schools of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, the School of Physics, University of Sydney, Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, University of Sydney and Macquarie University.

Internationally, our staff were making headlines and received some notable awards.

Lecturer, Dr Jack Phu was the first ever Australian to receive the American Academy of Optometry foundation’s Beta Sigma Kappa research fellowship for his work on glaucoma.

Professor Mark Willcox and his overseas colleagues were awarded a Vision Care Section Awards Committee, American Public Health Association 2020 Outstanding Scientific Paper/Project Award for his published papers relating to the COVID-19 pandemic which generated over 6,000 media stories. [Willcox MDP, Walsh K, Nichols JJ, Morgan PB, Jones LW. The ocular surface, coronaviruses and COVID-19. Clin Exp Optom. 2020; 103: 418-424 - https://doi.org/10.1111/cxo.13088] and [Jones L, Walsh K, Willcox M, Morgan B, Nichols J. The COVID-19 Pandemic: Important Considerations for Contact Lens Practitioners. Contact Lens Ant Eye. 2020; 43: 196-203 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2020.03.012]

Professor Mark Willcox also received the American Optometric Association Contact Lens Cornea Section (CLCS), Dr Donald R. Korb Award for Excellence. This award “recognises an individual who has been a true innovator and leader in the field of contact lenses and anterior segment disease”.

At the university level, we were delighted to have our team recognised with several awards. Associate Professor Maria Markoulli received a UNSW Faculty of Science June Griffith Boost Award to assist with her research. Associate Professor Isabelle Jalbert received an UNSW Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence in the General Category for 2020.

Dr Shyam Tummanapalli received the 2020 Faculty of Science Dean’s Award for Outstanding Thesis. His thesis is titled: "Evaluation of corneal nerves & tear neuromediators in diabetic peripheral neuropathy". This award recognises PhD graduates “who have produced a thesis that requires only minimal corrections, received outstanding and/or excellent levels of achievement for all examination criteria, and in the opinion of both examiners is in the top 10% of PhD theses examined.”

Professor Mark Willcox, Dr Maitreyee Roy and visiting academic, Associate Professor Judith Flanagan from the Brien Holden Vision Institute were honoured with UNSW ARC Postgraduate Research Supervisor awards in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their research environment and higher degree research community.

During December we held a hybrid/virtual visit with our Dean of Science, Professor Emma Johnston and Dean of Medicine and Health, Scientia Professor Vlado Perkovic where we showcased our activities and successes at the School throughout 2020. Professor Johnston was pleased to present our staff (albeit virtually for some) the following Faculty of Science Awards:

Dean of Science Standout: Dr Dale Larden
Research Excellence: Professor Mark Willcox
Education Excellence: Dr Nayuta Yoshioka
Excellence in an Operational Role: The UNSW Optometry Clinic Team
Early Career Excellence: Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith
Collaboration and Partnership: Dr Ajay Vijay
Communication Impact: Dr Nicole Carnt
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Excellence: Associate Professor Michele Madigan

Head of School, Professor Lisa Keay also recognised the following staff with School awards at the Dean’s Virtual Visit based on UNSW's Values in Action:

Builds Collaboration: Associate Professor Sieu Khuu
Demonstrates Excellence: Dr Jackie Tan
Displays Respect: Ms Nicola Kapo
Drives Innovation: Associate Professor Juno Kim
Embraces Diversity: Dr Anne Barnes and Associate Professor Maria Markoulli

Grants

2020 proved to be the School of Optometry and Vision Science’s most successful year on record with grants earning the school over $6 million in research funding.

Professor Mark Willcox had an extremely successful year receiving a grant from Business NSW as part of the Innovation Districts challenge for a biodegradable anti-viral coating and spray with Patrick Liu from EcoAid BioTech. UNSW awarded Professor Willcox a COVID-19 Grant to support research on ‘New disinfection systems to overcome PPE shortages and provide long term protection against infection in hospitals and public settings.’ He was also successful with an NHMRC Ideas Grant: “tackling hospital acquired infection with peptide mimics” and received an Innovative Manufacturing CRC Grant with colleagues to conduct further research on “a novel approach to biofilm disruption and removal.”

Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton, Professor Michael Kalloniatis, with support from Michael Yapp, Dr Angelica Ly, Dr Jack Phu, Paula Katalinic, Pauline Xu from CFEH, Dr Maitreyee Roy and Associate Professor Juno Kim from the School of Optometry and Vision Science and Professor Arcot Sowmya from the School of Computer Science partnered with Big Picture Medical, Brien Holden Vision Institute, The University of Adelaide, Menicon Australia Pty Ltd and were awarded a Cooperative Research Centre Project Grant for an artificial intelligence diagnostic tool to improve optometry accuracy at the point-of-care.

Professor Michael Kalloniatis and colleagues received an NHMRC Ideas Grant on “predicting visual function from structural data in health and ocular disease.”

Professor Lisa Keay and colleagues were awarded a contract from the Federal Department of Health to join a consortium with Westmead Institute/University of Sydney, The George Institute for Global Health and Brien Holden Foundation to conduct the Second National Eye Health Survey. She has also received a 2020 NHMRC Ideas grant with Associate Professor Julie Brown at The George Institute for Global Health in road safety and injury prevention.

Associate Professor Sieu Khuu and Professor Lisa Keay led a successful bid for an educational partnership with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT to develop a new Graduate Diploma in Orientation and Mobility to be offered in 2021.

Associate Professor Juno Kim, in collaboration with Associate Professor Stephen Palmisano and Professor Robert Allison from the University of Wollongong were successful with an ARC Discovery Project Grant for their research on virtual reality and cybersickness.

Dr Nicole Carnt was awarded a Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation grant for her research on ‘Preventing Sight Loss from Cold Sore Infections of the Eye’.

Drs Mei Boon, Nicole Carnt and Sharon Oberstein were supported with a grant to continue their research from the Russell Estate. We sincerely thank the Russell family for their support of our School and researchers.

Summary

Although it has been a challenging year here at the School, we have adapted well, and our output has been incredible as evidenced by our awards and grant success.

While we are still working in a hybrid capacity, 2021 will see us continue with the important research that we are undertaking as an outcome from the grants afforded to us.

Our teaching has gone from strength to strength with the new combined modalities of delivery. We have become more efficient, and we have worked collegially as a team to become a stronger organisational unit.

Previous staff news

2019

In 2019 we welcomed Drs Sowjanya Jaya Siddireddy, Rajini Peguda, Lisa Dillon and Minh Phan as Postdoctoral Fellows.

Sowjanya, an UNSW PhD Alumnus graduated in 2018 and has joined the Eye Research Group (ERG) at SOVS. ERG work with domestic and international industry collaborators to evaluate and develop innovation eye care products.

Rajini will be working in the Research in Orthokeratology (ROK) Group at SOVS. The ROK Group is known for its work with various eye care industry partners in developing and studying innovative contact lens designs and products for refractive error correction.

Lisa recently has been conferred with her PhD which examined the implementation of an exercise-based fall prevention program for older Australians with vision impairment, in collaboration with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT. Lisa’s postdoctoral work will build on this research, as well as examine mental health programs for Australians with vision impairment.

Minh Phan joined SOVS recently to work with Dr Blanka Golebiowski, Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton, Associate Professor Michele Madigan and Professor Mark Willcox on the effects of sex hormones on meibomian glands. Minh comes to SOVS with a PhD in Food Science and Nutrition from the UNSW School of Chemical Engineering.

Drs Angelica Ly and Jack Phu have been appointed as Associate Lecturers within the School. They will continue their work at the Centre for Eye Health. Angelica working with the School as a tutor, clinical and research supervisor and also as a Lecturer in posterior eye, primarily macular disease. Jack will be involved with SOVS through his teaching duties in the areas of ocular disease, ocular therapeutics and visual neuroscience.

Our UNSW Optometry Clinic was delighted to welcome Katariina Pakarinen in July 2019 as a Receptionist/Dispenser. Kat hails from Finland, has been in the optical industry since 2007 and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our UNSW Optometry Clinic team.

We also had Dominique Smstjr re-join our UNSW Optometry Clinic Reception team after a stint away studying.

Kerrie Ren and Helen Nguyen joined SOVS in 2019 as Research Assistants. They are working closely with Professor Lisa Keay and her team in Public Health. Both have experience working in the Public Health arena and we are delighted to have them on board. We are excited to share the news that Helen has recently been enrolled as a new PhD student with SOVS and will commence in 2020. Well done Helen!

Longstanding staff member, Ms Vanessa Honson has moved into an Education Focused role as a Lecturer for the School. She will continue to teach our undergraduate students in the colour vision area in our UNSW Optometry Clinic.

Promotions

This year we have had a number of promotions including Drs Blanka Golebiowski and Sieu Khuu who have been promoted to Associate Professor, effective 1 January 2020.

We also congratulate Dr Barbara Zangerl who was promoted to Senior Research Fellow at SOVS earlier this year.

Lily Ho who works in our UNSW Optometry Clinic has also been promoted to Principal Optometrist and we have just been advised that Dr Jerome Ozkan has been promoted to Research Fellow.

Katherine Wong has recently been promoted to Senior Research Optometrist within the Eye Research Group (ERG) at SOVS. Katherine has been integral in the growth and success ERG since joining the team full-time in 2015.

Staff Awards

Locally and internationally our staff and students have been very successful with individual and team awards.

Our congratulations to Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton who was earlier this year awarded the H Barry Collin Medal for outstanding research from Optometry Australia. During 2019 Fiona was also awarded a Life Fellowship of the British College of Optometrists and was the inaugural winner of the E Geoff Woodward Memorial Award from the UK Hospital Optometrists Association.

Dr Nicole Carnt was the recipient of the British Contact Lens Association Irving Fatt Memorial Lecture. "This honour is aimed at postgraduates in the field of contact lenses and/or anterior eye, who have completed a PhD, a post-doctoral degree or MSc in the UK within the last five years and continued with their research either in private practice, hospital practice or academia."

We also congratulate Emeritus Professor Stephen Dain on the Lederer Award from Optometry Australia. Pictured below are three former UNSW School of Optometry Heads of School, Emeritus Professor Stephen Dain, Emeritus Professor Barry Collin and Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton.

Locally we are honoured to have our staff and students recognised with UNSW Awards. This year our staff (Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith, Dr Nicole Carnt, Dr Sharon Oberstein) and students (Emma Gibson, Ngozi Chidi-Egboka and Zahra Tajbakhsh) were part of the team ‘UNSW Maths and Science Champions’ who won a UNSW Presidents Award for Diversity and last week Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith. (SOVS and Centre for Eye Health) was awarded the Dean of Science Impact Communication Award from the Faculty of Science.

Postgraduate Coordinator and Senior Lecturer, Dr Maria Markoulli was awarded an UNSW ARC Postgraduate Supervisor Award.

Emeritus Professor Stephen Dain Emeritus Professor Barry Collin Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton

Grant Success

Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith has had a stellar year with her grant success. Notably she has been awarded a prestigious NHMRC Investigator Grant to look at understanding inner retinal remodelling to improve clinical outcomes for patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). She was also awarded a Rebecca L Cooper Grant earlier this year and we recently have been advised that Dr Nivison-Smith was also successful in receiving a UNSW Faculty of Science Research Infrastructure Grant to purchase a spectralis optical coherence tomography (OCT) high magnification model.

Dr Maitreyee Roy was successful in receiving a UNSW Faculty of Science Research Infrastructure Grant to purchase the Cylite Hyperparallel OCT, an anterior segment and whole eye OCT volumetric imager and biometer for her research.

Dr Barbara Zangerl has also been awarded a UNSW Faculty of Science Research Infrastructure Grant to put towards the custom build of a polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) to undertake research.

During 2019 Professor Lisa Keay and Dr Vinod Maseedupally, Dr Kathleen Watt, Dr Maitreyee Roy have been awarded international seed funding grants from the Faculty Science.

Professor Keay is working with Professor Vijaya Gothwal on “Preventing falls in older people with vision impairment in India.” Dr Vinod Maseedupally and Dr Blanka Golebiowski are utilising their grant funding by travelling to India, China and Taiwan to explore partnerships with universities, hospitals and institutes for our post-graduate programs within the School. Dr Kathleen Watt, A/Professor Isabelle Jalbert and Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton will be working with our French collaborators on student exchanges and Dr Maitreyee Roy will be undertaking research on the “automated detection of ocular diseases with artificial intelligence.”

Professor Lisa Keay and Ms Helen Nguyen were awarded seed funding from the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute to investigate ‘Increasing older drivers’ competency and confidence in use of advanced vehicle technologies (AVT)’.

A team led by Professor Lisa Keay and A/Professor Isabelle Jalbert and working with Fred Hollows Foundation Global on ‘An assessment of the intersections of eye health and NCD’s: Rapid Review of the Existing Evidence’ and will contribute this work to the Lancet Commission on Eye Health in 2020.

Professor Lisa Keay and Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath were awarded Seed Funding from a joint USYD/UNSW Scheme: Mental Health and Wellbeing – Early Intervention and Prevention (Older People) for ‘Developing a Stepped-Care Program for Older Adults with Vision Impairment and Blindness’. Dr Lisa Dillon is extending this work to specifically examine mental health issues for AMD patients, supported by the 2019 Macular Degeneration Research Grant from the Estate of the late Peter Anthony John Vild.

2018

Staff News

Professor Eric Papas has joined the School after a long affiliation as a Visiting Professorial Fellow. Prof. Papas will be taking the lead in the development of research capacity in the measurement of visual quality and dynamic vision. He will also assist in developing and mentoring our talented Early Career Researchers at SOVS and will continue to supervise PhD students.

Dr Edward Lum, who has recently returned from Canada where he was undertaking a Postdoctoral Fellowship, has been working with our Director of Teaching, Dr Lisa Asper on ensuring that our courses are ready to move to the trimester model in 2019. He has also been working on some ad hoc projects for the School.

Dr Kathleen Watt and Dr Sharon Oberstein have moved into Education Focussed roles for the School. They will continue to teach our undergraduate students as the Director and Deputy Director of the UNSW Optometry Clinic respectively.

We farewelled Dr Preeji Mandathara Sudharman, Postdoctoral Fellow and an doctoral alumni of the School in 2017. During her time at the School, she was highly valued for her contributions to clinical trial work at the Eye Research Group. She also assisted with teaching in the School, particularly in the areas of evidence based optometry. She leaves to join another exciting venture in industry.

We welcome Dr Nayuta Yoshioka to the School as a Lecturer. Yoshi will be teaching in both the undergraduate and postgraduate programs at the School in the areas of Myopia and Vision Science.

Promotions

We have a number of well-deserved promotions to celebrate. We congratulate Dr Vinod Maseedupally on his promotion to Lecturer, Drs Nicole Carnt and Alex Hui on their promotion to Senior Lecturer.

Our researchers have also been promoted. We congratulate Dr Ajay Vijay Kumar on his promotion to Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr Simin Masoudi and Dr Deburan Dutta for their promotion to Senior Research Associates.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Fiona Stapleton has been awarded a Scientia Professorship. "Scientia Professors are selected not only by virtue of their excellence and innovation, but also in recognition of their behaviours that contribute to our community, such as demonstrating collaboration and teamwork, embracing diversity and showing respect for others".There are a small number of Professors at UNSW that are bestowed this title and we congratulate Fiona on this amazing achievement.

Professor Stapleton has also been appointed Associate Dean (Enterprise) at the Faculty of Science. We congratulate our newest Associate Professor, Isabelle Jalbert and her new role within the Faculty of Science as Associate Dean International and Engagement.

Staff Awards

Professor Fiona Stapleton and Professor Helen Swarbrick from the UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science have been recognised by their peers at the American Academy of Optometry.

Professor Stapleton was awarded the Glenn A Fry Lecture Award. "The Glenn A Fry Lecture Award is given annually to a distinguished scientist or clinician scientist in recognition of the quality, significance, impact, and relevance to optometry of his or her current research contributions." Professor Stapleton's significant scientific contributions are in the areas of contact lenses, epidemiology of contact lens-related infection, biomarkers in ocular surface and disease and dry eye.

Professor Helen Swarbrick was awarded the Max Shapero Lecture Award. This award is given to a "clinician, researcher, or scholar who has made a significant contribution to the cornea and contact lens field by virtue of his publications, lectures, or research efforts."

Professor Fiona Stapleton received the "Donald R Korb Award for Excellence" from the American Optometric Association Contact Lens and Cronea Section council. The award is presented annually to an individual who has been a true innovator in the field of contact lenses and anterior segment disease.

Professor Fiona Stapleton was elected as a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE). The Academy's aim is to ensure that Australia remains a world-leading technology economy. The Academy is an independent body of 800 eminent Australian scientists and engineers who strive to apply technology to enhance social, environmental and economic benefits for Australia. She joins Scientia Professor Justin Gooding, School of Chemistry, and Professor Chun Wang, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from UNSW who are welcomed by the Academy this year.

Dr Blanka Golebiowski has been recognised for her work on improving access to eye care services for refugees, Dr Blanka Golebiowski was granted $40K from the AMP Tomorrow Fund to expand her free services at the NSW Asylum Seeker Centre in Sydney's Newtown.

Dr Mei Ying Boon and Emeritus Prof. Stephen Dain were part of the MS-024 - Spectacles committee, which was awarded the Outstanding Committee Award 2018 by Standards Australia. This award recognises the impact and achievements of the committee both nationally and internationally over a number of years. Dr Bronwyn Edwards, CEO of Standards Australia and VP (finance) of the International Standards Organisation, presented the award to the committee on the 13th December 2018 at the Standards Australia Offices in Sydney.

[Below: The current chair (Ms Annette Hoskins) and immediate past chair (Professor David Atchison) with Dr Mei Ying Boon, Mr Simon Pavy, Mr George Webster and Mr Kevin O'Connor and project managers Emily Dawson and Ron Pulido. Absent: Mr Lionel Minter and E. Prof. Dain]

Emeritus Professor Stephen Dain was awarded the Josef Lederer Award from Optometry Australia. It was presented by his colleagues and Optometry NSW/ACT President Luke Cahill.

On the 8th December At the End-of-Year Faculty of Science End of Year Party and Staff Awards event at the newly refurbished Roundhouse, the following School staff were recognised for their contributions.

Associate Professor Isabelle Jalbert - Award for Teaching Innovation
Dr Nicole Carnt - Award for Research Excellence - Engagement and Knowledge Exchange
Dr Jack Phu - Award for Research Excellence (ECRs)
Dr Alex Hui - Award for Excellent Early Career Teachers

[Below: L to R, Dr Jack Phu, Dr Alex Hui, Associate Professor Isabelle Jalbert, Dr Nicole Carnt]

The university has also recommended a number of UNSW Awards to School Staff including

Prof. Eric Papas - UNSW Teaching Excellence in the category of Research Supervision
Dr Blanka Golebiowski - UNSW Teaching Excellence in the category of Research Supervision
Dr Alex Hui - UNSW Award for Teaching Excellence in the Category of Rising Star