Born in 1951 in Israel, I grew up in Antwerp, Belgium. After high-school, I studied opticianry in Brussels, followed by optometry at the University of Montreal and at the New England College of Optometry in Boston from which I graduated O.D. in 1977. Followed 3 years in Israel, working at Hadassah University Hospital and simultaneously in private practice.

I married in 1979 and moved to Lausanne in 1980 where I took a job in private practice. In 1982, I started teaching optometry in the newly opened French section of the Swiss School of Optometry. We have two daughters, 1980 and 1985.

I taught for 35 years in most of the clinical fields of optometry until I retired in 2017. On a voluntary basis, I helped building up a training program for optometrists in Madagascar in which I taught since 2018. In 2022 we moved to Israel.

Professor Ariela Gordon-Shaag is the current Dean of the Faculty of Health Science and Society and a Full Professor in the Department of Optometry and Vision Science at Hadassah Academic College (HAC) in Jerusalem. She obtained her BA in Chemistry from Columbia University in 1990, graduating magna cum laude, and went on to earn both her M.Sc. and PhD in genetics and molecular biology from the Hebrew University in 2002. Her passion for vision science was ignited during her post-doctoral studies at the University of Washington and the Hebrew University, where she focused on phototransduction.

In 2007, Professor Gordon-Shaag founded the Master’s programme in Optometry at HAC and served as its Director until 2013. She has also held the position of Chairperson of the Department of Optometry at Hadassah College for two terms. Her research primarily explores the epidemiology and etiology of keratoconus and myopia, contributing extensively to the field through numerous peer-reviewed publications.

An esteemed Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, Professor Gordon-Shaag has actively participated in the scientific committees of both the European Academy of Optometry and Optics annual meeting and the World Council of Optometry bi-annual meeting. Her leadership extends to significant educational projects, such as the Erasmus+ Capacity Building initiatives. She was co-PI and led the grant writing team for the OCULUS project from 2016 to 2020, which focused on aligning the optometry curriculum with the European Diploma of Optometry and Optics and involved a nine-partner consortium spanning Israel, Europe, and India. Furthermore, she contributed to the ASSET project, which developed assessment tools for new learning environments across thirteen partnering institutions. These efforts underscore her commitment to advancing global optometry education through innovative and collaborative projects.

Dr Michelle L Hennelly BSc (Hons) FCOptom PhD SFHEA – Associate Professor

Dr Hennelly is the Head of Department for Optometry and Visual Science. She is an Associate Professor responsible for the Independent Prescribing Programme and is involved in UG teaching in eye disease modules in years 2 and 3. Michelle was previously the MSc in Clinical Optometry and the MSc in Advanced Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner (Health and Social Care) Programme Director. Educational and curriculum development skills have been honoured both nationally and internationally. She was awarded a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in 2019 recognising her influence and direction in training UG and PG optometrists for the last 25 years. In addition, she was awarded Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2020. She was also appointed VISION 2020 – International Centre for Eye Health – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine – Curriculum Director for Tanzania, Ghana and Botswana, responsible for mapping curriculums across countries, establishing common learning outcomes, teaching methods and methods of assessment in optometry/ophthalmic nursing. She is a member of the Editorial Board and Consultant Editor for the international journal Community Eye Health – International Centre for Eye Health – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The journal is translated into five languages and reaches over 35,000 eye care workers globally. She is an Educational Visitor Panel member for the European Academy of Optometry and Optics and is a QAA subject benchmark reviewer. She is a member of the Human Resource for Eye Health Network and an Associate member of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Following a degree in Ophthalmic Optics at Cardiff University, Dr Hennelly completed her pre-registration year at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. She was awarded a PhD for her research into psychophysics/contact lenses at City, University of London. Upon completion of her Doctoral Thesis, entitled The light scattering characteristics of the normal and contact lens wearing eye. Since then, she has specialised in the development of innovative and professional accredited Masters Programmes in Clinical Optometry at the forefront of optometric education. In addition, she was the CET co-ordinator and editor for the City, University of London CET series run in conjunction with Optometry Today/Association of Optometrists. During her time at City, she has supervised 2nd and 3rd clinics, lectured in special clinical techniques, eye disease and ocular therapeutics, directed the Contact Lens Referral Clinic – a specialist clinic for medical contact lens fitting and supervised UG and MSc dissertations.

Sven is an educator, clinician, and vision sciences researcher. He is a Senior Lecturer in Vision Sciences, Programme Lead of the Vision Sciences MSc programme, and the Vision Research Group Lead at Glasgow Caledonian University. Holding a Senior Fellowship of the UK Higher Education Academy, Sven has significant experience in curriculum development, delivery, and quality assurance. Sven is on the Editorial Board of Optometry and Contact Lenses (OCL) and the Scandinavian Journal of Optometry and Visual Science and a member of the College of Optometrists (UK) and the Association of German Contact Lens Practitioners and Optometrists (VDCO).

Graduated with honors in Optometry at the University of Santiago de Compostela in 1997. After a fellowship at CCLRU, University of New South Wales in Australia, joined the Universidade do Minho in Braga, Portugal where he is currently Full Professor and Dean of the School of Sciences.

 Along with teaching tasks in Optometry and Vision Sciences, different institutional management tasks, coordinates the Clinical and Experimental Optometry Research Lab with activities in clinical visual optics, specialty contact lenses, myopia management, presbyopia and epidemiology research. Published more than 200 articles in indexed journals (Web of Science h-index=38). Authored 3 books and 30 book chapters and has presented conferences in over than 30 countries.

Currently:

• President/Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Minho, Portugal.
• Chief Editor of the scientific magazine ‘Journal of Optometry’,
• Chair Educational Committee of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics,
• Member European Qualifications Board and research funding agencies evaluator in 4 countries,
• Ambassador of the Society of Ocular Surface and Contact Lenses for Portugal.

2003 PhD in Optometry at City University, London

1994 Degree in Applied Physics Optics Major, specialisation in Optometry at Beira Interior University (UBI) in Covilhã-Portugal

Coordinator of the Vision Sciences Labs at Ubimedical, UBI

Coordinator of the project of diabetic retinopathy screening at Cova da Beira Region, in cooperation with local public Health centres, held at Ubimedical Vision Sciences Labs

Since 2017 Member of the ECOO’s Visitors Pannel

Since 2009 MSc Optometry & Vision Sciences Course Director

2021-2023, 2004-2006 BSc Optometry & Vision Sciences Course Director

Since 2003 Assistant Professor at UBI Physics Department

1994-2003 Lecturer at UBI Physics Department

Prof Daniela S Nosch is responsible for the clinic and teaches clinical subjects at the Optometry School of the University of Applied Science in Olten, Switzerland. Her main research interests are dry eye disease and contact lens wear. She also works clinically in an ophthalmology clinic and was previously over ten years in specialised contact lens practice and general optometry at the Hospital   eye service as well as in private practice in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

She has published and presented internationally. She is a member of the College of Optometrists and fellow of both, the BCLA and EAOO, as well as a member of EAOO education committee and the ECOO European Diploma accreditation committee.

Dr Mireia Pacheco-Cutillas has been Professor and International Relations Vicedean at Facultad de Óptica y Optometría de Terrassa, UPC, Barcelona Tech. Also she was the responsible coordinator for the Children’s Vision Clinic at the Centre Universitari de la Visió (CUV), UPC. She has recently retired from these duties.

In addition to the degree in Optometry, Mireia also holds a master’s degree in clinical optometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (USA) and a PhD in Optometry and Visual Science from the City University of London (UK). Mireia has been a Fellow of the AAO and a member of the College of Optometrists (UK). She is a Fellow of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics of which she was the President (2015 – 2017).

She has published and lectured widely on the areas of Paediatrics, Binocular Vision, Colour Vision, Glaucoma and Ageing.

Marika Wahlberg Ramsay is an Optometrist since 2005, earned a PhD in optometry 2011. Marika is the program director for optometry programs since 2016 at Karolinska Institute and head of Unit of Optometry at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience since 2019. Engaged in teaching, course responsibilities and research. Over the years, focused on enhancing educational quality, implementing feedback mechanisms, ensuring equal opportunities, and continuous evaluation and improvement in courses and education. Marika was a part of the development of an inter professional clinic at KI. Currently, directing efforts towards strategic planning and leadership in optometry programme.

Dr Sonja Zinken qualified as an optometrist from UAS Utrecht in 1999. She moved to the UK to work as an optometrist for several companies. During this time, she furthered her education and gained a postgraduate diploma in Clinical Optometry from City University London. In 2013 Sonja returned to the Netherlands to take up a post as Lecturer in Clinical Optometry at UAS Utrecht. In 2017 she gained her international master’s in health professional education from Maastricht University, with a special interest in Clinical Reasoning, Curriculum development and Programmatic assessment.

She was awarded a Fellowship of EAOO in 2020 for her contribution to Optometric Education in Europe and joined the Education Committee of EAOO in 2022 as a member and coordinator of the Fellowship programme.

In 2018 she joined ECOO as member of the visitor panel. Sonja is acting chair of the Optometry Association the Netherlands since November 2023.

Nikki Keller is a fourth-year optometry student at Utrecht University of Applied sciences. She joined the visitor panel as a student because she is interested in higher education and how optometry is developing and expanding in different countries across Europe.

Rían is a final year student Optometrist in TU Dublin. He is an SMC (Tech) qualified ophthalmic laboratory technician and GOC registered Dispensing Optician with a 1st class honours BSc undergraduate degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing. He has over 17 years of experience working in the optical industry, across multiple and independent practices and is currently working part time in optical education as Optical Support Programme Coordinator in ABDO College.

Rían’s passions are paediatric and specialist eyecare and he has a keen interest in research, recently being awarded the HRB scholarship for a short summer research project.

Chiara is a PhD Student in Visual Optics at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her background includes a BCs in Optics and Optometry obtained by the University of Milan-Bicocca and a Professional MSc in Clinical Optometry from University of Latvia, where she recently finished her studies while working as a part-time optometrist back in Italy.

Her goals are to take the first steps into the world of research, teaching and clinical practice, and to increase the culture around the world of optometry itself for informational, educational and preventive purposes.

She loves the challenges of hiking, gardening, occasional violin playing, and drinking good mocha coffee. Her motto is “Estote parati”.