Prof Jennifer Craig accepting her BCLA fellowship award in 2019

Internationally renowned dry eye and ocular surface researcher Professor Jennifer Craig from the University of Auckland has been named as one of the world’s first BCLA ambassadors.

The British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) is considered one of the leading contact lens and anterior eye education bodies for eyecare practitioners worldwide. To extend its reach, a network of 15 global ambassadors has been appointed to bring “the international contact lens and anterior eye health community closer together than ever before,” said Luke Stevens-Burt, BCLA chief executive. “By putting together this network of some of the leading names in eye health we are ensuring we have the resources to reflect our international appeal. Our new ambassadors will play a key role in bringing research, skills and knowledge development to like-minded professionals with an interest in contact lens and anterior eyecare.”

Prof Craig said she was thrilled to have been made an ambassador. The BCLA and its remit to share evidence-based research with the profession has been an important part of her career, she said. “So to be recognised as somebody who can be responsible for doing that is quite an honour.”

Making the top 200

In other news, Prof Craig is now also ranking around 59th in the top 200 global optometrist research rankings, recognising her work as lead author of the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society second dry eye workshop (TFOS DEWS II), her many international research collaborations and her work at the University of Auckland. Saying she was surprised to be so highly ranked, Prof Craig said it’s a great recognition of the importance of dry eye research and of the work being undertaken in New Zealand.

Two other University of Auckland researchers who were also ranked in the top 200 this month are Dr John Philips, principal investigator of the Auckland Myopia Laboratory, and Professor Emeritus Leon Garner, the University’s foundation professor of optometry who died in 2016.

The 2021 BCLA Conference

The 2021 BCLA virtual clinical conference and exhibition will run from 13-14 June. The conference programme includes a 30-hour virtual conference livestreamed worldwide, enabling delegates to tune in at a time convenient for them. For more, visit: https://www.tinyurl.com/BCLAconference