Keynote Speakers

Dr Desmond Fonn

is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Contact Lens Research at the School of Optometry, University of Waterloo, Canada. He is a graduate of the School of Optometry, Johannesburg and the UNSW, Sydney where he also served as a consultant for the CCLRU. He is a Fellow of the AAO and a Diplomate of the Cornea and Contact Lens Section and a member of ARVO. He is the President of ISCLR and a founding member of IACLE in which he serves as Vice President. In 2003 he received the Max Shapero award from the AAO which is awarded to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the cornea and contact lens field, and also received the Wichterle medal from the Czech CLS. His research interests include corneal physiology, the ocular response and symptomology of contact lens wear, extended wear and developments in contact lens materials and designs.

Dr Earl L. Smith III

is currently the Dean at the University of Houston, College of Optometry. He received his O.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Houston and subsequently joined the faculty of the College of Optometry at UH in 1978. Currently he holds the Greeman-Petty Professorship in Vision Development (since 1987). His primary research interests are focused on the effects of normal and abnormal visual experience on the developing visual system. For the last fifteen years, his research has concentrated on the role of vision in regulating refractive development and eye growth. He is the recipient of the Glenn Fry Award from the American Academy of Optometry for his research on emmetropization (1996) and is a two-time co-recipient of the International Glaucoma Review Award (1999, 2002). In 1994, he received UH’s Amoco Teaching Excellence Award and was selected by the Texas Optometric Association as its Educator of the Year in 2003. He is a past president of the American Optometric Foundation (2002), a past Chair of NIH’s Central Visual Processing Study Section (2001-2003) and currently is a member of NIH’s National Advisory Eye Council.

Alan P Saks

is a third generation optometrist, born in South Africa. He has served three terms as President of the Contact Lens Society of South Africa and two as President of the NZSCLP. He is a member of the British College of Optometrists, a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and was awarded a Fellowship of the NZSCLP. He is a recipient of a B&L award for outstanding achievement, and has lectured at various national and international scientific meetings and conferences, as well as serving on the education committee and as examiner in Contact Lenses and Clinical Optometry at the School’s of Optometry, Technikon Witwatersrand and Rand Afrikaans University. He lectures in clinical contact lenses and theory to Ophthalmology registrars in NZ. His monthly column ‘In Contact’ is subscribed to the world over.

Dr Gary Gerber

is optometry’s most in-demand practice building consultant. His own optometry practice is among the top 1% of practices in the world and located in one of the most competitive ophthalmic marketplaces in the United States. His informative and entertaining presentations have been seen by doctors across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. He has consulted for practitioners in Australia, Japan, South Africa, the Caribbean and China. Dr. Gerber is also a contributing editor for Review of Optometry and has a regular column in Optometric Management, Contact Lens Spectrum, Review of Contact Lenses and the Journal of the American Optometric Association. He is a corporate consultant and has spoken for CIBA Vision, Vistakon, Essilor, DICON, Laser Diagnostic Technologies, Carl Zeiss Meditec, TLC, OfficeMate Software Solutions, First Insight as well as many other companies in the ophthalmic industry. He has lectured at virtually every large optometric meeting including SECO, Vision Expo East/West, The AOA Congress, East West Eye Conference, The American Academy of Optometry and EyeQuest.

Dr Jeffrey J. Walline

is an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University College of Optometry. He received his Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry in 1996, and he received a Master’s degree in Physiological Optics from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 1998. He completed a PhD degree in Vision Science at The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 2002. Dr. Walline is the Principal Investigator of the Adolescent and Child Health Initiative to Encourage Vision Empowerment (ACHIEVE) Study, a randomized clinical trial to investigate the effects of contact lens wear on nearsighted children’s self-perception. He is also conducting the Corneal Reshaping and Yearly Observation of Nearsightedness (CRAYON) Study to examine the effects of corneal reshaping contact lenses on myopia progression in children. He teaches Vision of Children to third year optometry students and he is a clinical instructor in the Binocular Vision and Pediatrics Service at the College of Optometry.

Dr Pauline Cho

is currently an Associate Professor of the School of Optometry at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University where she teaches Contact Lens Practice. She was the recipient of the Department’s Teaching Excellence Award in 2002 and she obtained her Master in Professional, Vocational and Higher Education at PolyU in 2003. Her current research interests include contact lenses (including orthokeratology), compliance in contact lens wear and care, microbial contamination of lens and lens accessories, tears and dry eye. She has published extensively in optometric and contact lens journals including a book chapter on Orthokeratology with John Mountford in Refractive Surgery (eds: Azar D, Gatinel D), 2nd Edition. She is currently the Deputy Director of the CLEAR (Contact Lens Education and Research) Unit of the School of Optometry of PolyU, a Fellow of the AAO, and a member of the International Society for Contact Lens Research. She was also recently appointed Regional Editor (Asia-Pacific) for Contact Lens & Anterior Eye, the journal of the BCLA.