about us
Our Team
The clinical and research team at EHCWA consists of highly qualified and skilled members of the University of Western Australia’s Doctor of Optometry faculty. With varying interests such as myopia management and retinal conditions, our students and patients have access to a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of eye health.
Management
Garry Fitzpatrick
FOUNDATION HEAD
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With over 40 years of optometry experience, Professor Garry Fitzpatrick played a crucial role in establishing Western Australia’s first Optometry program at the University of Western Australia (UWA).
As the inaugural Western Australian practitioner member of the Optometry Board of Australia until 2018, he actively shaped eye health service delivery policies. His commitment extends to remote areas, where he contributed significantly to innovative eye care workforce models.
Professor Fitzpatrick’s philosophy emphasises interprofessional collaboration, addressing healthcare challenges for disadvantaged populations.
As the Foundation Head of the UWA Optometry program, he envisions graduates adaptable to the evolving optometry landscape. Under his leadership, the program marks a new era in eye health care, fostering collaboration between optometry and ophthalmology disciplines positioning Western Australia at the forefront of optometric education and eye health care.
Khyber Alam
COURSE DIRECTOR
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Khyber Alam is an Associate Professor and Course Director of the Optometry program.
He has experience as an accomplished problem-solving and strategically oriented leader, educator, researcher, and clinician.
He is driven by a profound passion for teaching and a strong commitment to academic excellence, which fuels his motivation to be a part of the distinguished faculty at the University of Western Australia.
Khyber finds great fulfillment in sharing his insights and nurturing the minds of the next generation of scholars.
UWA’s reputation as a leading institution for research and education aligns perfectly with Khyber’s aspirations, as it provides an ideal environment for him to contribute to cutting-edge research and collaborate with other esteemed academics across the world.
His interests include neurodegenerative diseases of the retina, public health, vision impairment and its impact on quality of life and the evaluation of healthcare & educational services.
Neilsen De Souza
MANAGEMENT
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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 a member of the Essilor Future Insight Advisory Board.
Wilfred Tang
MANAGEMENT
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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 a therapeutically endorsed optometrist who concurrently works at the eye clinic at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He has over 12 years of high-level clinical exposures to managing complex eye diseases and surgeries within the tertiary system of healthcare.
Wilfred is currently driving the UWA initiatives to provide final year optometry students with hands-on experiences of delivering eye health services within an Aboriginal Medical Service in the Mid-West of WA. 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. His clinical interests include public health of optometry, managing eye diseases and ageing eyes.
Pauline Xu
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Pauline is a highly qualified optometrist, having earned a Bachelor of Optometry with Class I Honours from the University of New South Wales in 2007. She furthered her education by obtaining a Master of Optometry and a Graduate Certificate of Ocular Therapeutics.
With a rich background in clinical optometry, teaching at both under and post-graduate levels, and clinical research, Pauline has held significant roles such as clinical research manager at the Brien Holden Vision Institute, clinical supervisor and lecturer at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW, and lead clinician at the Centre for Eye Health.
Pauline’s expertise spans evidence-based practice, diagnostic imaging, and retina diseases, reflecting her dedication to advancing clinical optometry. Her commitment to collaborative eye care is evident in her multifaceted roles, showcasing a holistic approach to eye health.
Clinicians
Elisse Higginbotham
CLINICIAN
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Elisse is a lecturer at UWA developing students’ learning in binocular vision and transition to clinical practice.
Combining a strong understanding of the underlying evidence base and 20 years of experience in clinical optometry, she takes an active patient-based approach to clinical care and teaching.
Her primary clinical interests are paediatric vision, especially strabismus and amblyopia, myopia management and visual perception.
Previously Lead Optometrist (Paediatric Services) at the Australian College of Optometry, she continues her commitment to public eye care through her work at EHCWA and with refugee and aboriginal patients at the Lions Eye Institute.
Lisa Jansen
CLINICIAN
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Lisa is an optometrist with over 30 years experience as a clinician and practice owner with an interest in specialty contact lens fitting for myopia management and conditions such as keratoconus.
She completed her Bachelor of Optometry with Honours at the University of New South Wales and has completed a graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics. She currently lectures at UWA and is involved in clinical skills instruction and supervision.
Mark Lucey
CLINICIAN
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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.
Hannah Jackson
CLINICIAN
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Hannah is a clinical optometrist at EHCWA and lecturer at UWA, actively involved in developing students’ clinical skills and supervising patient care in clinics.
With four years of experience in rural and regional settings, she has gained extensive experience in diagnosing and managing a wide range of ocular pathologies.
Her clinical interests encompass general ocular pathology, comprehensive colour vision assessment, CASA eye examinations, and paediatric care. Hannah is passionate about providing high-quality eye care and is dedicated to advancing her knowledge through ongoing education and clinical practice.
Clinician Researchers
Amy Lim
CLINICIAN RESEARCHER
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Amy is a local optometrist who has made the transition to academia, where she is actively involved in teaching clinical skills to Optometry students.
Her clinical work has encompassed metro, rural WA and international endeavours.
She holds a Bachelor of Vision Science, Master of Optometry and a Graduate Certificate in Public Health and Leadership in Eyecare, and is currently undertaking a PhD in health education. Her research focusses on aligning teaching and assessment of communication and clinical decision making within healthcare curricula.
Amy possesses a deep passion for education, consistently seeking knowledge and embracing the challenges it presents. She is highly enthusiastic about making a positive impact on the lives of her students and patients.
Gavin Swartz
CLINICIAN RESEARCHER
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Gavin is an optometrist in clinical practice with a recognised expertise in specialty contact lens fitting for visual rehabilitation in the irregular cornea and in myopia control.
He is a lecturer in the UWA Doctor of Optometry team focusing on topics around anterior eye, contact lenses and myopia control.
He completed a Bachelor of Vision Science at UWA, and then went on to acheive a Bachelor of Optometry from the University of Melbourne as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Optometry and Postgraduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics.
He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control, and is currently undertaking a PhD where his research is focused on the impact of residual higher-order aberrations in contact lens correction of the irregular cornea.
Jason Charng
CLINICIAN RESEARCHER
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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 Lim
CLINICIAN RESEARCHER
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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.
Han Trinh
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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.
Researchers
Allison McKendrick
CHAIR IN OPTOMETRY RESEARCH
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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.
Danka Sampson
RESEARCHER
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Danka Sampson obtained her PhD in biophysics from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland.
Post-PhD, she has been a researcher in three institutions: Lions Eye Institute and the University of Western Australia (2014-2018; 2023-); the University of Surrey (2018- 2021) and University College London (2021-2023), United Kingdom.
Her research focuses on designing and constructing non-invasive imaging instruments based on optical coherence tomography for ophthalmology and developing standardised workflows for ophthalmic image and data analysis.
Beyond research, she is passionate about science communication and developing a more inclusive society. She has been involved in over 30 outreach programs for schools, invited to speak at a number of events encouraging female students to enter STEM, and served as a mentor to female high school and university students.
She has also created a children’s book, “Jesse explores vision impairment,” scheduled for publishing later in the year.
Hamed Niyazmand
RESEARCHER
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Hamed is a lecturer at UWA. He completed his Ph.D. at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at QUT, Brisbane in 2020.
Hamed’s Ph.D. has focused on mechanisms underlying myopia development and progression. Hamed’s research interests are Myopia, Anterior segment assessment, Optical Coherence Tomography, and Binocular vision.