Researchers from University of New South Wales (UNSW) have featured prominently at a recent International Society for Contact Lens Research (ISCLR) conference, as the Sydney optometry school also welcomes the appointment of a new deputy head.
Professor Fiona Stapleton, from the UNSW School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS), was officially appointed president of the ISCLR at the society’s 20th scientific symposium held in Singapore last month.
She has taken over from Professor Philip Morgan from The University of Manchester, UK. At the same event, UNSW PhD student Ms Rabia Mobeen was awarded the Hikaru Hamano Travel Fellowship, which is given to a student whose abstract submitted to the scientific meeting received the highest votes during a selection process.
The first Australian to win the award, Mobeen’s research focuses on the corneal immune response during contact lens wear, and includes novel discoveries in orthokeratology lens wearers that will ultimately help in myopia control.
This is the second time her research has received a major accolade in recent months, after she also claimed the American Academy of Optometry Foundation’s Joe and Janet Barr Early Career Cornea and Contact Lens Research Award in July.
Stapleton, an award-winning contact lens researcher, was head of the UNSW SOVS for 12 years until handing over the role to Professor Lisa Keay earlier this year. She is currently an associate dean of enterprise within the UNSW Faculty of Science.
 Professor Fiona Stapleton |
Rabia Mobeen |
Dr Sieu Khuu |
She will lead the ISCLR with significant experience as a clinical scientist and expertise in epidemiology and clinical research in the fields of corneal infection, dry eye and contact lens-related disease.
Commenting on the ISCLR, Stapleton said: “The main role of the society is to hold a biennial meeting where we invite keynote speakers from our field and try set the research agenda with our industry partners for the next few years.
“At our last meeting, we identified important research themes that will help us to answer some of the most challenging questions in our field – it’s a bit like a think-tank involving a closed group of people involved in contact lens research.”
Meanwhile, the UNSW SOVS announced Dr Sieu Khuu would be returning to the role of deputy head of school, replacing Associate Professor Isabelle Jalbert. Khuu’s research is primarily focused in the discipline of visual perception with an emphasis on cognitive and visual neuroscience.
He is seeking to understand the computational rules underlying the extraction and processing of visual information and how this information is used by the visual system to aid visually guided behaviour.
He is also the course coordinator for the programs Organisation and Function (VISN2211) of the Visual system and New Development in Vision Science (VISN3211).
