I am so excited to work with people living with dementia, families, aged care staff and healthcare professionals on the pathway, with mentorship and guidance from @DrAnitaGoh @KeayLisa @LynetteJoubert2

Short Course Alert: Become a Dry Eye Expert. Join our online course on Dry Eye Disease: Diagnosis and Management. Sponsored by Alcon and Melcare Biomedical Pty Ltd. 📷 Dates: 10 March – 13 April 2025 📷 CPD Hours: 30 hours Participants highly rated this short course: “The practical insights provided by experts were invaluable, enhancing my ability to address this common condition confidently. Highly recommended for any eye care professional.” Don't delay and enrol now: navigator.unsw.edu.au/listin… #DryEyeExpert #EyeCare #OnlineCourse

Acceptability of virtual restraint fitting to extend the reach of child restraint fitting services: A pilot randomized controlled trial: Traffic Injury Prevention: Vol 0, No 0 - Get Access tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.… @JulieB_Injury @georgeinstitute

Why Study the Graduate Certificate in Vision Impairment at UNSW? Vision impairment affects many people, limiting their ability to see clearly even with corrective lenses. Vision 2020 predicts that by 2050, 1 in 2 Australians will require eye care services. To address this critical need, the UNSW School of Optometry & Vision Science has established the Graduate Certificate in Vision Impairment. This program aims to equip students with the knowledge and expertise to enhance the lives of people living with low vision or blindness. Why Choose This Program? •Open to All Backgrounds: No specific bachelor's degree required. •Flexible Learning: Online coursework with elective options. •Multidisciplinary: Electives offered in Public Health and Biomedical Engineering. •Real-World Skills: Developed with Guide Dogs NSW/ACT to provide skills for real-world challenges. A/Prof Juno Kim, Program Lead, says, "This unique program allows students from diverse backgrounds to upskill and enhance their expertise in vision impairment and rehabilitation." Ready to make a difference? Learn more about the program (commencing Term 1, 2025) and available Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) here: bit.ly/GradCertVisImpairment

SOVS is delighted to share the news that Dr Pauline Kang has been promoted to Associate Professor effective 1 January 2025. Pauline is an incredible asset to our school and currently serves as our Deputy Head of School. She is a leader in research in myopia and a top performing educator. Please join us in congratulating Pauline on this wonderful and very well deserved promotion.

Early celebration of World Sight Day which is October 10th, 2024!

World Sight Day NSW Parliament House promoting eye health and services for people with vision impairment ⁦@Vision2020Aus⁩ ⁦@GuideDogsNSWACT⁩ ⁦@UNSWoptomvsci⁩

One of Helen Nguyen's PhD papers exploring safer vehicles including Purchasing choices of older drivers on advanced vehicle technologies: ... sciencedirect.com/science/ar… @georgeinstitute @UNSWoptomvsci

Short Course Alert: Advanced Paediatric Eye Care Dive into the intricacies of paediatric eye care with our comprehensive program. From understanding early visual system development to diagnosing common childhood eye conditions, this course will elevate your knowledge and skills. Course Details: • Program Dates: 24 September – 4 November 2024 • Delivery Mode: 100% online • CPD Hours: 30 hours (9i) Graduates Love It: Our UNSW Sydney Advanced Paediatric Eye Care short course consistently receives 5-star ratings. Graduates applaud it as “a fantastic foundation for paediatric eye care.” Don't miss out and enrol now: bit.ly/APECSept2024

"Future students exploring careers with UNSW! 🎓 Promoting optometry at #UNSWOpenDay. Proud to engage with future students alongside our amazing team of SOVS students and staff! 👓✨ #Optometry #UNSWOpenDay #Optometry @UNSWoptomvsci"

Congratulations to Scientia Professor Fiona Stapleton for winning the prestigious Ruben Medal - the highest honour of the International Society for Contact Lens Research (ISCLR). This award, voted by previous recipients, recognises Fiona’s outstanding contributions to contact lens-related research. We also congratulate SOVS PhD candidate MD Abdullah Aziz for receiving the Hikaru Hamano Travel Fellowship. Aziz’s abstract received the highest votes during the selection process at the 22nd ISCLR Symposium which was recently held in Canada. Congrats Fiona and Aziz!

Great to get the opportunity to talk about the rapidly increasing but neglected global problem of falls which kill 684,000 people (most aged 55 ) each year at #Safety2024. Excellent panel discussion with @LoganPip @KeayLisa and Indian leaders.

Another great session on #fallsprevention at #Safety2024 yesterday. Great to share the podium with @syd_health @msk_health colleague @AnneTiedemann1 and @UNSWMedicine colleagues @rebeccaivers and @KeayLisa on evidence, exercise, opioids, vision and falls.

Thank you Safety2024 for the opportunity to discuss the importance of good vision to prevent falls across the life-course and need for multi-sectorial collaboration ⁦@UNSWoptomvsci⁩

Members of our visiting committee and guests recently had the privilege of touring the new Health Translation Hub (HTH) at Randwick, Sydney. This state-of-the-art facility will unite multidisciplinary teams of educational and medical researchers, clinicians, students, industry partners, and public health staff to drive excellence in innovation. Our school will also have dedicated clinic space within this cutting-edge building. Curious to see what the HTH will look like? Check out this video: youtube.com/watch?v=MAWUTAoi… #healthcare #UNSWSOVS #healthtranslationhub

Falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide with adults older than 60 years (@WHO). Our panel engaged in a crucial discussion about the risk of fall- related injuries and growing senior population. “Data shows that senior and aged people sustain the most fall-related hip injuries. LMICs are experiencing an explosion in senior populations, this will mean in the coming years, we may see an increase in the number of hip fractures,’ @ProfBArmstrong

Are outdoor exposure patterns associated with myopia development in kids? Tongji University and @sjtu1896 (China) researchers equipped >2900 children with smartwatches & found that 15 minutes outdoors at 2000 lux may prevent myopia. @JAMANetworkOpen: bit.ly/3WOakh1

Pleasure to work with Dr Liza Bautista from Southwestern University Phinma on implementation issues for Clinical Decision Support for glaucoma in Australian optometric practice @UNSWoptomvsci @swuphinma congratulations to Liza and Samida pictured here

Allied health professions are in demand but students have been excluded from 'placement poverty' solution abc.net.au/news/2024-08-20/a… via @ABCaustralia

And there we have it! Vision impairment added as a modifiable risk factor for dementia. I have so many thoughts about this but a key one is the current, widespread rationing of cataract surgery in countries across the world and how this could perpetuate dementia risk... #AAIC24