Three ophthalmologists, including the inventor of an intraocular lens formula, and one optometrist are among leaders in the eyecare profession to be recognised in the 2022 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Professor Graham Barrett and optometrist Mr Geoffrey Fitzpatrick were awarded Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia, while Dr David Moore and Professor Stephanie Watson were both recognised for their service to ophthalmology with a Medal (OAM) in the General Division.
Professor Barrett, who developed the Barrett Toric Intraocular Lens Calculator in the 2000s, has been recognised for significant service to ophthalmology, and to professional organisations.
He is founding president of the Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, a position he has held since 2000, a former board member of the International Society of Refractive Surgeons and was president of the International Intra Ocular Implant Club from 2014 to 2016.
An internationally renowned ophthalmologist, Barrett was involved in the development of the first foldable intraocular lens in the late 1990s, and is currently clinical professor, Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, at University of Western Australia, and a consultant ophthalmologist at St John of God hospital in Subiaco.
He has also served as a board member of the Asia-Pacific Association of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons since 2019 and is currently chief medical editor of Asia Pacific EyeWorld.
Mr Geoffrey Fitzpatrick, founder and director of Wilson Fitzpatrick Family Optometrists (now Fitzpatrick Family Optometrists) in Queensland, has been recognised for significant service to optometry, and to the community.
Fitzpatrick established his practice in 1974 and continued to expand his private practice, offering eyecare in Nambour since 1984, Maroochydore since 1986, and the Sunshine Coast and Kingaroy since 1987.
A volunteer pilot and optometrist, he has also been involved in the Trachoma Program run by Fred Hollows Aboriginal Medical Service from 1990 to 2000.
Fitzpatrick is currently a Civil Aviation Safety Authority Credentialed Optometrist (since 2014) and a member of the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital Alignment Program.
He was a councillor for the then Queensland Optometry Association from 1974 to 1981 before serving as state treasurer for the Optometry Queensland/Northern Territory Division from 1981 to 1999, and then a board member of Optometry Australia from 1998 to 2000.
Fitzpatrick has been a member of Rotary International since 1972.
An ophthalmologist in Tamworth since 1991, Dr David Moore established his own practice there, North West Eyes, in 2003, and has been recognised for his service to ophthalmology.
Moore is currently a member of the Australian Society of Ophthalmologists (ASO), a clinical lecturer at the University of New England, and a clinical tutor with the RANZCO Vocational Training Program at Tamworth Hospital.
He is also involved in ophthalmology internationally. Moore is director and co-founder of Eye Openers International, established in India in 2006, and director of Go Medical in North Korea, established in 2015.
Listed in The Ophthalmologist’s Top 100 Global Power list for Ophthalmology in 2021 and 2022, Professor Stephanie Watson continues to gain recognition for her service to ophthalmology.
Watson is currently head of the corneal unit at Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital.
She is co-founder of Save Sight Keratoconus Registry, established in 2014, and co-founder of RANZCO’s Women in Ophthalmology Group in 2018.
Watson is also current chairperson of Australian Vision Research (formerly Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia) and Professor of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the Save Sight Institute.
More reading
Aiming true: optimising enVista toric outcomes (video included)
Sole Australian among world’s top 100 female ophthalmologists
