Our Team

Associate Professor Khyber Alam is an academic leader, researcher, and clinician with extensive experience in higher education leadership, accreditation, curriculum transformation, workforce development, and community engagement. He currently serves as Dean and Head of the School of Health and Clinical Sciences at The University of Western Australia, providing strategic leadership across a diverse portfolio of health disciplines, research centres, rural education hubs, and multidisciplinary teams dedicated to improving health outcomes and strengthening communities. As Dean, Dr Alam oversees academic excellence, research growth, industry engagement, and international partnerships that drive innovation in healthcare education and practice. His leadership extends across impactful collaborations with universities, healthcare organisations, governments, and community partners in Australia, India, Vietnam, and the United States, fostering global knowledge exchange, workforce capacity building, and research that addresses real-world health challenges.

Besides Dr Alam’s leadership responsibilities at UWA, he is a research supervisor for PhD students, has received grants, and continues to teach in various units. His research interests include neurodegenerative diseases of the retina, health economics, public health, vision impairment and its impact on quality of life and the evaluation of healthcare & educational services. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the profession and community, Dr Alam received the Young Alumni of the Year Award from Deakin University in 2019.

Lisa Jansen is Head of Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at The University of Western Australia. She is an experienced optometrist, educator and academic leader who has contributed to the profession through her service on both the Optometry Western Australia Board and the Optometrists Registration Board.

Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Optometry (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and has completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics. She also holds a Graduate
Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

With more than 35 years of experience as a clinician and practice owner, Lisa has developed expertise in dry eye management and specialty contact lens practice, including myopia management and the fitting of lenses for complex corneal conditions such as keratoconus.

At UWA, Lisa leads the Optometry and Vision Sciences team and is actively involved in teaching, clinical skills instruction and the supervision of optometry students, helping to prepare the next generation of eye care professionals.

Passionate about optometry education, Lisa is committed to inspiring the next generation of optometrists to embrace lifelong learning, self-care and professionalism as the foundations of exceptional patient care. She strives to nurture reflective, resilient and compassionate practitioners, equipped to become global eye care professionals who make a lasting impact on their patients, communities and the profession.

Wilfred is a Senior Lecturer of the UWA Doctor of Optometry course.

Since joining UWA in early 2020, he has been involved in designing, planning, implementing, and teaching in the program.

Wilfred is actively involved in the UWA initiatives to provide final year optometry students with hands-on experiences of delivering eye health services within Aboriginal Medical Services in Perth, the Mid-West and Southwest of WA. Wilfred is a therapeutically endorsed optometrist with 13 years of work experience at the eye clinic of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, having high-level clinical exposures to managing complex eye diseases and surgeries. Prior to joining UWA, he led the optometry program in Singapore.

Wilfred graduated from The University of Melbourne in 1991, and completed his PhD from QUT in 2001. He holds a Master of Public Health degree from UWA and a post-graduate qualification in ocular therapeutics from UNSW.

Wilfred is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a sessional member of the WA Sate Administrative Tribunal. His clinical interests include public health optometry, ageing eyes and managing chronic eye diseases.

Neilsen De Souza is an optometrist with 10 years of senior-level management experience in not-for-profit eye care organisations.

He has dedicated his career to developing and implementing affordable, accessible, and sustainable vision care solutions.

Neilsen’s leadership extends globally, having established education, research, and service delivery organisations in India and China and worked extensively across developing and emerging countries.

Additionally, Neilsen has led the development and management of over 400 vision centers and a global spectacle supply chain for not-for-profit organizations.

His leadership roles include Senior Lecturer at UWA Optometry School, Director of Melville Optical Clinic, Chairperson of Global Hand Charity, Senior Business Associate at nthalmic, a Program Partner Advisory Panel member of the Perth Eye Foundation and Chairperson of Penrhos College.

Elisse is a clinical optometrist and lecturer at UWA, involved in teaching of clinical and dispensing skills across all levels of the Doctor of Optometry course.

Combining a strong understanding of the underlying scientific research base and over 20 years of experience in primary care optometry clinics in metro and rural locations, she takes an active patient-based approach to clinical care and teaching.
Her primary clinical interests are paediatric vision care, especially strabismus, amblyopia and myopia management, and complex binocular vision in adults.

She co-coordinates the Community of Practice of Paediatric Educators for Optometry Australia, and presents regularly on children’s vision topics to optometrists at pre- and post-registration level. Previously Lead Optometrist (Paediatric Services and Myopic Clinic) at the Australian College of Optometry, she continues her commitment to public eye care through her work at EHCWA with refugee patients in collaboration with the Lions Outreach Clinic.

Mark has a BSc from the University of Queensland and worked in industry before becoming a research assistant at QUT’s Centre for Eye Research in the 1990’s.

He was awarded a BAppSc(Optom) in 1996 and has been a practising Optometrist ever since. A Graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapuetics (QUT) was conferred in 2009 making him one of the first Optometrists in Western Australia to be able to prescribe ocular therapeutic medicines.

His extensive optometrical experience includes time in regional and remote clinics (and overseas aid work), hospital clinics, specialty contact lens practice, corporate and independent practices, formal teaching and supervision of optical dispensers and optometry students.

Maggie Hong is a clinical optometrist and supervisor at EHCWA, whose role is to guide the students in developing their clinical skills. With 20 years of experience in various private clinical settings, she has provided quality eyecare to a diverse range of patients with different needs.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Vision Science, Maggie qualified as an optometrist in 2005 with Bachelor of Optometry at the University of Auckland. She advanced her knowledge through further studies and acquired a Graduate Certificate of Ocular Therapeutics and Advanced Certificate in Children’s Vision.

Lynne Allard is a Lecturer and Optometrist in the EHCWA clinic. She has been actively involved in the optometry profession in private practice, public hospitals, and universities and served on the Optometry Western Australian board.

Lynne completed her Bachelor of Optometry with First Class Honours at the University of New South Wales, and her Master of Optometry at University of New South Wales and City University in London.

She has completed a post-graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics, an Advanced Certificate in Glaucoma, and is currently studying for her Certificate in Advanced Ocular Therapeutics. Lynne has over 30 years’ experience working in Australia, Holland, and Denmark.

Olivia Krygger joined the University of Western Australia as a Lecturer in the Doctor of Optometry program in 2025. She completed her Master of Optometry at Deakin University in 2021 and is a therapeutically endorsed optometrist with a passion for clinical education and patient-centred care.

Olivia is actively involved in teaching across the Doctor of Optometry program and supervising students in the Eye Health Centre of Western Australia clinics. Her clinical interests include neuro-optometry and colour vision, and she contributes to EHCWA’s specialty clinics in these areas.

Olivia is also committed to culturally safe eye care and is involved in Indigenous health initiatives through the Derbarl Yerrigan Health Service. Olivia is passionate about preparing future optometrists to deliver evidence-based, compassionate care while improving access to high-quality eye health services for diverse communities.

Jason obtained his optometry and PhD at The University of Melbourne, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations, University of Pennsylvania.

Jason is a clinician-scientist with a strong interest in retinal diseases. Specifically, he has extensive experience in innovative structrual and functional assessements of the retina, in preparation for gene therapy clinical trials.

Jeremiah obtained his Optometry, MPhil and PhD degrees at the University of Melbourne. As the inaugural recipient of the Guelma-Alexander Fellowship in Neuroscience, he undertook his postdoctoral fellowship while based at the Melbourne Brain Centre.

Jeremiah has practiced clinically since 2005 across various private and public settings both interstate and overseas. His clinical interests include glaucoma, neurological conditions and retinal conditions of vascular aetiology.

His research focuses on developing novel biomarkers for the detection of systemic and brain disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. He is currently an associate editor for the journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry.

Jingyi Chen is a therapeutically endorsed Optometrist, Lecturer and PhD candidate. She has obtained a Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Optometry, and Graduate Certificate in Advanced Contact Lenses. As a clinician, she has lived and worked in regional and rural Australia and has provided outreach eye care to remote communities.

Jingyi currently works in a collaborative clinic that provides eye care services to refugees, asylum seekers, and First Nations Peoples. Her PhD projects explore how collaborative care models between optometry and ophthalmology can reduce wait times and improve access to eye care.

Han is an associate lecturer at UWA and EHCWA clinician. She obtained her BSci(Hons) and Doctor of Optometry from the University of Melbourne.

She is passionate about education, and is involved in teaching clinical skills and supervising students at EHCWA. She is also committed to providing high quality eye care to patients in the Refugee Clinic.

She is currently undertaking a PhD in inherited retinal diseases and artificial intelligence.

Eden is a Lecturer in the UWA Doctor of Optometry course and optometrist with many years of clinical experience working in Perth. Having graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Optometry degree with Honours, he then obtained the Master of Optometry degree at the University of New South Wales.

He is currently an optometry PhD candidate with the topic investigating pupillary reactions as an outcome measure for eye disease – inherited retinal diseases (IRDs).

As an optometrist Eden has special clinical interests in myopia management, specialty contact lens practice, cornea, and anterior eye disease. He is also passionate about clinical teaching and inspiring the next generation of future optometrists.

Sophia Gerritsma is a Lecturer in the Doctor of Optometry program at the University of Western  Australia and a clinical optometrist. She has extensive clinical experience across private optometry practice, private and public ophthalmology, community-based settings and working across metropolitan, regional and rural settings.

She has a strong clinical and research commitment to improving models of eye care delivery for underserved communities. She is currently undertaking a PhD in public health, investigating eye health literacy in Western Australian communities.

She is passionate about developing optometrists who are clinically skilled, compassionate, and understand broader health systems, in order to guide individuals towards the most appropriate care for their needs.

Allison is currently appointed as the UWA/Lions Eye Institute Chair of Optometry Research. She is an AHPRA registered optometrist and has over 25 years of clinical research and teaching experience involving the evaluation of visual function and performance.

Her research interests include improving clinical assessments for eye conditions that are common in older adults such as glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and macular degeneration.

She has made significant contributions to the understanding of visual perceptual disorders in the healthy aging visual system, and in neurological conditions that affect the visual pathways such as migraine and visual snow syndrome.

Her research has developed new methods for visual field assessment, and for combining this information with ophthalmic imaging. Her research is supported by nationally competitive grant funding and industry partners.

Associate Professor Holly Chinnery is the inaugural Ian Constable Research Fellow and Head of the Cornea and Ocular Surface Immunology lab at The Lions Eye Institute and The Department of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Western Australia. She completed her PhD at the University of Western Australia in 2009, then worked as post-doctoral fellow at the Lions Eye Institute and Monash University. In the past 15 years she has held tenured teaching and research appointments at Deakin University and The University of Melbourne.

Her research interests include ocular immunology and corneal neuroimmunology, and she is a co-inventor of Fun-IVCM, a method that enables the dynamic visualization of T cells and dendritic cells in the corneal epithelium, and novel investigation of dynamic macrophage behaviours in the cornea of living humans.

Orielle Munoz Leon is the Clinical Coordinator at the Eye Health Centre in Western Australia. She oversees the daily operations of the clinic, including patient appointments, clinical administration, referral processes, teaching coordination, and communication with staff, students, patients, and external providers.

Orielle is a Medical Technologist specialising in optometry and ophthalmology from Chile with experience in clinical eye care, diagnostic testing, patient coordination, and healthcare service operations. Before moving to Australia, she was involved in establishing a new Ophthalmology Unit as part of a government effort to improve access to eye care, reduce waiting times, and prevent avoidable vision loss. In this role, she managed clinical workflow, patient care processes, equipment coordination, and team operations.

Orielle is passionate about improving access to quality eye care and supporting the education of future optometrists. She is committed to promoting accessible, patient-centred treatment and to providing a warm, professional experience to every patient who comes to the Eye Health Centre of WA.