Innovation Profile: University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Research
The University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Research is Canada's only English school of optometry and home to North America's largest contact lens research centre. Training the next generation of eye specialists, the institute thrives on research and education excellence as well as a long history of industrial partnerships and technological breakthroughs. Read full profile below.
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Dr Thom Freddo | Dr Lyndon Jones Associate Director, Centre for Contact Lens Research, University of Waterloo |
Canada's Only English School of Optometry
The University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Research is Canada's only English school of optometry and home to North America's largest contact lens research centre. Training the next generation of eye specialists, the institute thrives on research and education excellence as well as a long history of industrial partnerships and technological breakthroughs.
"We enroll 90 of the brightest kids in Canada every year from across the country," says Dr Thom Freddo, Director of the Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Research, "and we have the largest graduate program in vision science in the world."
The institute's mission is threefold: train top notch optometrists, researchers and clinicians; support Kitchener-Waterloo clinics with high quality eye care; and conduct innovative ophthalmic research in partnership with all of the world's leading vision care companies.
"When corporate partners are looking for places to assess the impact or the efficacy of new contact lenses, new optical devices, new solutions for contact lenses or new medications for the treatment of eye disease, the Waterloo School of Optometry is one of the centres of real excellence," says Dr Freddo.
Leading edge research underway at the school includes new advances in eye-imaging software and new techniques for improved diagnosis and early detection of diabetes. The opportunity to partner with academic researchers across the broader Toronto Region has also been an important part of the school's success.
"We have many close links with other universities. We've very close to the University of Toronto and McMaster University. There are many opportunities for collaboration at the University of Waterloo. It's amazing," says Dr Lyndon Jones, Associate Director of the Centre for Contact Lens Research.
When Dr Freddo talks about his recent decision to leave a prestigious appointment as Vice-Chair of the Department of Opthalmology at the Boston School of Medicine in order to take up his current post, he does so with his gaze firmly fixed on the road ahead. "The future of the school and the opportunities for an expanded role for Canadian optometry in medical eye care are the main reasons that brought me to this position."
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