Speakers

Meet the inspiring people who will be sharing their knowledge with us!

Keynote

Day 1

Day 2

Keynote Speakers

Skye Cappuccio

Day 1

The Optometry Workforce: Challenges and Opportunities

Skye is the CEO of Optometry Australia and has enjoyed working with the organisation in various roles for over a decade. Prior to joining Optometry Australia, Skye held a range of policy and advocacy roles in peak health organisations. She is passionately committed to serving members and driving enhancements to support health systems work better for the communities they support. She holds a Masters of Business Administration, Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts.

Karan Nagrani

Day 2

That Blind Guy

Diagnosed at Eleven with Usher Syndrome, a rare degenerative and incurable condition leading to complete blindness, and hearing loss, Karan’s perspective is very unique. An excellent communicator and creative talent, he was drawn to marketing, graphic design and communications. Fast forward to now and Karan’s vision loss had progressed to more than 97% leaving him with no night or peripheral vision and a narrowing field of sight. Determined not to allow his vision loss to impact his life and motivated by a desire to help others with low/no-vision and disability, he now works as an advocate, campaigning for social change, accessible workplaces and an inclusive society with his twisted sense of humour. (Full Bio on https://thatblindguy.co/)

Day 1 Speakers

Day 1 Schedule

Ava Ward

Metro vs Rural Graduate Panel

Ava Ward is a clinical optometrist who has worked across independent practices in regional Victoria since graduating from Deakin University in 2022. She is passionate about providing high-quality eyecare in regional settings. She also serves on Optometry Australia’s Early Career (ECOVSAT) committee and the Rural and Regional COPE advisory group.

Megan Zabell

Alternative Pathways Panel - Career 1 or 2?

Megan Zabell is an alumna of University of Melbourne. Throughout her optometry career Megan has practised in a diverse range of settings, from metro private practice to outreach clinics. She has also taught pre-clinical optometry and now works for Alcon as a speaker and educator on dry eye and contact lenses.

Leanne Jackson

Market Yourself with Confidence: Interview Skills for Future Optometrists

Leanne Jackson leads the ProVision team, delivering tailored recruitment solutions for ProVision members, successfully placing graduates and optometrists in Australia’s independent optometry sector. The People & Culture team provide recruitment, learning, wellbeing, and HR initiatives, to PV members, with a focus on fostering meaningful career and growth opportunity while aligning practitioners’ personal and professional values with the thriving culture of independent optometry.

Claire Ong

Paediatric Ophthalmology, A Public Hospital and Me: An Optometrist's Perspective

Claire graduated from Flinders University in 2021, and is currently the Senior Optometrist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Her paediatric ophthalmology and public hospital journey began in 2023 when she was selected for the WCH optometry pilot, a project that explored the role of an optometrist within paediatric ophthalmology.

Rachael Lim

Metro vs Rural Graduate Panel

Rachael is an optometrist, preclinical demonstrator, and a PhD candidate at The University of Melbourne. She graduated from the Doctor of Optometry program in 2020 and began her clinical career in regional Victoria, working in Echuca for a year before returning to Melbourne for clinical work, teaching, and her PhD in optometry education.

Lien Trinh

Alternative Pathways Panel - Career 1 or 2?

Lien Trinh is a University of Melbourne Alumni who holds bachelor and masters degrees in optometry and public health. She began her career at the ACO where she now sits as a board member. She has worked nationally and internationally in various roles, and more recently founded the Talking Eyes podcast.

Briana Beath

Introductory Auslan Workshop

Briana is Profoundly Deaf since birth and Co-Founder of “Auslan in the West” business with her husband Darren. Briana enjoys teaching Auslan, socialising, travelling and cooking.

Jorden Cai

Metro vs Rural Graduate Panel

Jorden is an early career optometrist who graduated in 2023 and works at a practice called “Eye Trend.” He is passionate about eye care, and through this panel, he hopes to bring a fresh perspective on what it’s like to work in an independent metro store.

Wei Yii

Alternative Pathways Panel - Career 1 or 2?

Wei is a staff optometrist at ACO Eye Health, where she primarily works in the Low Vision and Contact Lens clinics. She also works as a locum optometrist at Twofaces Eyewear. Since 2022, Wei has contributed to Paralympics Australia as a National Classifier for athletes with visual impairments.”

Angus Turner

Collaborative Care - The Lions Outback Vision Telehealth model

Professor Angus Turner is the founding Director of Lions Outback Vision, based at the Lions Eye Institute (LEI) in Perth, Western Australia. He completed medical training at the University of Western Australia where he now holds a McCusker Professorial Chair. He has a Masters of Evidence Based Medicine from University of Oxford and underwent Ophthalmology training in Melbourne. Lions Outback Vision provides eye health services throughout Western Australia to rural and remote areas and Indigenous communities in urban locations.

Day 2 Speakers

Day 2 Schedule

Lisa Lombardi

Optometry in Clinical Trials

Lisa Lombardi is an Optometrist, Clinical Research Manager at Cerulea Clinical Trials and Honorary Researcher at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. She completed her Bachelor of Optometry degree in 2007, from the University of Melbourne, graduating with therapeutic endorsement and Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Optometry in 2009. She is currently managing the conduct of clinical trials involving gene therapies and optogenetics for inherited retinal diseases. She also works with the Bionic Eye Unit exploring vision processing methods in patients with end-stage retinitis pigmentosa implanted with a suprachoroidal retinal prosthesis.

Alison Abdullah

The Business of Optometry and Beyond

Alison graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) and a Bachelor of Optometry. Her career began in Manhattan, New York, where she worked alongside ophthalmologists on the Upper East Side and developed a passion for combining clinical expertise with stylish eyewear. She founded Lens Avenue to bring that blend of eye care and fashion to her patients, co-founded Dermii to make eye health more accessible, and most recently created It's Medical Finance to support allied health professionals and doctors across Australia with straightforward financial solutions.

Angelica Ly

Which Way Should I Go? AI, Optometry, and the Cheshire Cat’s Dilemma

Angelica Ly is a Senior Lecturer in Posterior Eye Therapeutics at UNSW Sydney, clinician-researcher, and advocate for technology-enhanced, patient-centred care. With over 40 peer-reviewed publications and regular national and international speaking engagements, she brings a systems-level lens to innovation in eye health and clinical practice.

Collaborative Practice Centre

Teamwork Makes the Vision Work

The Collaborative Practice Centre (CPC), within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne is a catalyst for collaborative practice in our health care system, equipping current and future teams for person-centred care and improved health outcomes. The CPC team includes professionals from a range of health backgrounds, including audiology, dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, social work and more. In this session, participants will reflect on the importance of collaboration for their professional careers. This activity is facilitated by a team from the CPC: Mr Neville Turner (optometry), Dr Peter Carew (Audiology), Dr Kim Allison (Physiotherapy), and Dr Christine Jackman (Medicine). Together, they bring expertise across healthcare practice, education, and communication to create a supportive and engaging learning environment.

Ken Winkel

Healthcare for People and Planet

Dr Ken Winkel is an Associate Professor within the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne and Honorary Fellow of the University's Medical History Museum. A leading Australian toxinologist, he was the Director of the Australian Venom Research Unit (AVRU) 1999-2015, and has now moved to one of the worlds leading schools of public health. He is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (ACTM) and a member of the Biodiversity Committee of the Doctors for the Environment Australia. He is an alumnus of the University of Melbourne (PhD, Walter and Elisa Hall Institute; WEHI), the University of Queensland (MBBS) (BMedSci, Tropical Health Program, QIMR) and the Swiss Tropical Institute. He is also Past President of the ACTM and is a member of the editorial board of the affliated journal Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. Dr Winkel has been a CSL [now Seqirus] consultant on venoms and envenomations, and managed the 24 hour medical advisory service provided by AVRU to doctors, poisons information centres and paramedical personnel on Struan Sutherland's retirement. He continues as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Australian Prescriber and was the inaugural chair of the WEHI's Alumni Relations Steering Committee. Dr Winkel is also active in teaching, lecturing to medical and science students and graduates, and has presented more than 100 papers and posters at Australian and international meetings and published more than 100 papers. His work has attracted more than $7m in funding since 1996. In June 2005 he was awarded the Vita Lampada Medal for Excellence in Medical and Health Education, from the Royal Children's Hospital and Health Service District, Brisbane, Queensland. In July 2007 he was awarded the ACTM Medal for Distinguished Contribution to Tropical Medicine.

Jane Duffy

Ethical Dilemmas in Optometry

Jane Duffy is a senior lecturer in health law and professionalism and a member of the team that teaches health ethics, law and professionalism to students in Deakin University’s medical program. Jane has qualifications in optometry and law and has practised in both professions. She has served on several health practitioner registration boards including as an inaugural member of the Optometry Board of Australia. In 2014, her contributions to the optometry profession were acknowledged with an Order of Australia medal.