About us

I joined SOVS in 2020. My work is focused on equity and eye health, and current projects include an HRC funded project to improve monitoring of and access to diabetes eye care in Auckland, and a pilot study for a population-based prevalence survey of vision impairment.

I am a public health professional. I enjoy working at the cross-section of data, epidemiology, and policy in pursuit of health system improvement. Population eye health has been a new addition to my areas of work and I am finding it extremely satisfying.

I am a clinically trained optometrist and began my PhD in 2017 on vision screening in New Zealand children and how vision conditions are related to reading ability. I became interested in this after completing my Masters, which highlighted the lack of contemporary population data for eye conditions in New Zealand children.  I hope that the findings of my research will help to improve equity in eye care for New Zealand children.

I completed my PhD in Physiology in 2015. Since then, I have developed interests in science writing and communication, and vision research. I enjoy collating and synthesising complex information and I hope to apply these skills to new projects within the Community Eye Health team.

I am a researcher in health management with knowledge of the health economy and the integration of the healthcare system. I enjoy working with multidisciplinary research teams to improve health system performance. I have recently developed an interest in diabetic eye care, and I hope to make a meaningful contribution to the community eye care team.

My work generally sits at the intersection of vision science and community eye health. I’m particularly interested in promoting equitable access to eyecare during childhood, and investigating how the timing of treatment impacts the development of the visual system

In 2020 I was awarded the University of Auckland Senior Health Research Scholarship to complete my PhD on inequities in eye care access with a particular focus on Māori and Pacific people in Auckland. I hope my research will be used to plan equitable eye care services for all New Zealanders.

I am a public health professional, and my PhD focuses on measuring access to and the quality of diabetic retinopathy services in the context of universal health coverage. My research interests include population eye health, equity and health systems.

I am a Podiatrist at Te Whatu Ora (Waikato) and I am completing my PhD on improving health care for older adults with sensory impairment and diabetes. I am enjoying being part of the Community Eye Health Team who all have similar goals in improving health care for all people in Aotearoa.

I am a Māori Optometrist with several community clinics. In 2020 I joined SOVS as a Professional Teaching Fellow Kaiāwhina.  Through my mahi I have a been able to support staff, students and research projects by assessing our approaches to cultural safety and Te Tiriti ensuring we are actively including these values in all we do.

Deborah Ewuru is a Nigerian-trained Optometrist, with an interest in equity and vision impairment. During her PhD, she will play a key role in collecting data in the field during our population-based eye health survey.

I am an optometrist passionate about promoting vision health both globally and within my local community. I’ve had the privilege of contributing to volunteer initiatives in Nepal, Tanzania, Mongolia, and the Pacific region. Presently, I  work in private practice and serve as a Professional Teaching Fellow aboard the Vision Bus Aotearoa. Our mission is to tackle disparities in eye health by offering eye exams to children in need.

As a young short-sighted person myself, my optometry interests revolve around all things paediatrics, public health, and myopia control. With experience working in Hawke’s Bay and regional Wellington, it is good to be back home in Auckland to take up the role of Professional Teaching Fellow on the Vision Bus Aotearoa. Our mission is to help resolve healthcare inequities in the some of our youngest and most vulnerable people—children.

I am an optometrist with previous experience working in remote aboriginal communities in Western Australia. Currently, I’m a Professional Teaching Fellow on the Vision Bus Aotearoa. The Vision Bus is a mobile optometry clinic that aims to address inequity in eye health by making sure children can see clearly at school so that they can seek higher education.

I am a Dispensing Optician and Professional Teaching Fellow on the Vision Bus Aotearoa dispensing glasses to children. My interests lie in childhood myopia and I have begun a Master of Health Science investigating how well children adapt and adhere to glasses designed to slow myopia progression, and the barriers to full time wear.

I joined the School in 2019 and since then have completed a MHSc in optometry alongside teaching. I am an active part of the SOVS school vision screening programme and I have based some of my research on the prevalence of uncorrected refractive error in school children. I’m interested in a number of areas of research in optometry, notably equity in paediatric eye care as well as the scope of cultural safety of optometrists in Aotearoa.