Innovation Profile: Dr Thom Freddo

Director, School of Optometry and  Vision Research
University of Waterloo

Dr Thom Freddo leads the University of Waterloo's School of Optometry and Vision Research, Canada's only school of optometry and home to the largest contact lens research centre in North America. 

Read Dr Freddo's Bio

Dr Thom Freddo

Dr Thomas F Freddo completed his BA at the University of Connecticut, his Doctor of Optometry degree at The New England College of Optometry and a PhD in Anatomy at Boston University School of Medicine, where he also completed a Fellowship in Diagnostic Ophthalmic Pathology. Prior to coming to the University of Waterloo as Professor and Director of the School of Optometry, Dr Freddo served as Vice-Chairman for Research in the Department of Ophthalmology at Boston University School of Medicine where he was also a Professor of Ophthalmology, Pathology and Anatomy. He practiced comprehensive optometry on the staff of The Boston Medical Center Hospitals for 26 years and also served as Senior Consultant in Diagnostic Ophthalmic Pathology in the Pathology department. In addition to his appointment at Boston University, Dr Freddo served as an adjunct Professor of Optometry at The New England College of Optometry where he taught Ocular and Human Gross Anatomy. Four times, Dr Freddo received NECO's Foster Namias Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Dr Freddo's research has been funded by the US National Eye Institute continuously for over 20 years, working on glaucoma and anterior uveitis. Dr Freddo has served on the Editorial Board of the journal Optometry and Vision Science and currently serves as an Executive Editor for the journal Experimental Eye Research. In 2000, Dr Freddo was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Optometry and in 2006 was elected to become the next President of the International Society for Eye Research. Dr Freddo also serves on the Long Range Planning Committee for The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and as a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's Ophthalmic Medical Devices review panel.