Global Ambassador: Jennifer Craig
Tell us about yourself:
I’m an academic optometrist and BCLA Fellow who is passionate about improving care for patients with ocular surface discomfort through high quality scientific research. My publications reflect my interest in the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of dry eye disease and meibomian gland dysfunction, and I’m proud to recently have been recognised within the top 60 optometric researchers in the world. I enjoy networking and developing collaborative links with professionals, clinician scientists, basic scientists and with industry.
Since completing my PhD at Glasgow Caledonian University, where I studied the tear film in normal and dry eyes, I spent a couple of years as a Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the University of Dundee before relocating to New Zealand. I now head a translational ocular surface research laboratory at the University of Auckland with a fantastic team of around a dozen optometric and medical researchers and research students.
I’m a research collaborator as well as wife of ophthalmologist and inventor of cool ophthalmic devices, and BCLA Fellow Dr Simon Dean, and mother to two budding engineers who have enjoyed ‘attending’ BCLA conferences since they were infants!
What encouraged/inspired you to join the BCLA?
I’ve been an ardent supporter of the BCLA since attending my first meeting in 1994 as a postgraduate student at Glasgow Caledonian University and, despite living in New Zealand for over 20 years, there are very few meetings I’ve ever missed! The BCLA is an established global leader in delivering high quality, relevant education to practitioners, encouraging the conduct of scientific research that strengthens knowledge in the field, and ensures patient care is informed by the best available evidence. The BCLA has allowed me to meet the most amazingly dedicated and inspirational practitioners and researchers, and to develop networks that have led to extensive professional opportunities. The meetings are amongst my favourite (and I’ve attended a lot of meetings), and the gala dinners are second to none!
What do you hope to achieve by representing the BCLA as a Global Ambassador?
I hope to grow the BCLA’s global community to include many more New Zealand practitioners and clinical scientists by helping to showcase the wealth of knowledge, expertise and opportunity the BCLA can offer to New Zealanders. With my long history of working with the BCLA and supporting education for optometrists internationally, I hope to see more New Zealanders becoming proud Fellows of the BCLA and benefiting from sharing their talents with like-minded individuals around the globe.
Biography:
Therapeutic research optometrist, Jennifer P. Craig is a Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where she heads the Ocular Surface Laboratory. Since being awarded her PhD on the tear film in the normal and dry eye disease, Jennifer has maintained her research interest in the ocular surface, primarily dry eye disease and tear film dysfunction. She regularly delivers continuing education and research lectures internationally (virtually, if not in person), and publishes widely in both the scientific and clinical press. She is co-author of the BCLA’s book ‘The Tear Film’ (Elsevier) and has contributed to the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s International Workshops on Meibomian Gland Dysfunction and Contact Lens Discomfort and as Vice-Chair for TFOS DEWS II. She is invited chair of the latest TFOS International Workshop on A Lifestyle Epidemic: Ocular Surface Disease. Jennifer leads international multicentre clinical trials and holds visiting academic appointments at Aston University in the UK, the Universities of Waterloo and Montreal in Canada, and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Medical Sciences in Wenzhou, China.