In this blog, we’re spotlighting 7 brilliant female eye care professionals from around the world. They each use Medmont instruments to advance innovation, knowledge and patient outcomes. We share the journeys of these outstanding women in optometry to inspire future generations of eye care professionals, especially women, to reach new heights in their pursuit of knowledge and optimal patient care.
Read on to take inspiration from their career insights, achievements and advice.
Dr Cheryl Chapman
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™
Optometrist and innovator Dr Cheryl Chapman is known for contributions to dry eye therapies and myopia management. She’s owner of Gretna Vision Source in Nebraska, President of The American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control (AAOMC), and adjunct assistant professor at the UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry.
Dr Chapman is also cofounder of Peeq Pro, an eyelid and facial skincare company. She is the designer of Peeq Waiva Eyelid cleansing system and other Peeq Pro products and services.
In addition to working one-on-one with doctors to implement practice protocols, Dr Chapman lectures within the optometric community, and to local pediatricians and ophthalmologists. She also enjoys training fourth year extern students in current dry eye therapies, myopia management strategies, and practice management.
Not least, Dr Chapman is a proud mother of six.
In her profile, she discusses her work’s impact, the challenges she faces—and she shares practical advice for ambitious women striving to manage career goals and family life.
Dr Daddi Fadel
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™ Pro
An unwavering advocate for women in optometry, the renowned Dr Daddi Fadel DOptom, FSLS, FBCLA, FAAO, FIACLE has made invaluable, indelible inroads in clinical research and practice. A pioneer of modern lens design, she specialises in contact lenses for irregular corneas, scleral lenses, myopia control and orthokeratology.
Dr Fadel studied optometry at Istituto Superiore di Scienze Optometriche (ISSO) in Rome. Incredibly, she started lecturing and publishing in her first year and finished the four-year course in three years—with honors. Today, Dr Fadel regularly lectures around the world in 5 languages and is the author of several books on scleral lenses and many peer-reviewed publications on specialty contact lenses. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Contact Lens Research & Science (JCLRS).
As you’ll see in her profile, Dr Fadel has navigated career challenges with resilience and self-belief, inspired by strong women—including her grandmother.
Dr Elise Kramer
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™
Dr Elise Kramer has accomplished a great deal in the decade since she graduated from Université de Montréal. A residency-trained optometrist practicing in Miami, Florida, she specialises in ocular surface disease and specialty contact lens design and fitting. Soon after her residency at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Dr Kramer became a fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS). She now serves as SLS secretary.
Dr Kramer is a member of the American Optometric Association (AOA), the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE), a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) and of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA). She is also the Delegate of International Relations for the Italian Association of Scleral Lenses (AILeS).
Dr Kramer has published important articles and reviews and participates in clinical research trials. She also lectures around the world in several different languages.
Read Dr Kramer’s profile to learn about her impressive accomplishments, her career challenges, role models and why she believes it’s important to mentor women in our field.
Professor Jennifer Craig
Professor Jennifer Craig is an academic optometrist, researcher and BCLA Fellow. She is passionate about improving care for patients with ocular surface discomfort. Just recently, she was recognised as one of the top 60 optometric researchers in the world.
Based in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Auckland, she regularly delivers continuing education and research lectures internationally, as well as publishing in both the scientific and clinical press.
Professor Craig has published hundreds of papers with a focus on dry eye disease and Meibomian gland dysfunction.
She leads international multi-centre 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. She holds visiting academic appointments at Aston University in the UK, the Universities of Waterloo and Montreal in Canada, and at the University of Medical Sciences in Wenzhou, China.
Dr Jillian Campbell
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™ Pro
Dr Jillian Campbell OD is an optometrist, specialty custom lens expert, paper author, lecturer and mentor for up-and-coming contact lens specialists. She recently celebrated one year as owner of Richard Lindsay Optometrists in Balwyn North (Melbourne, Australia), fulfilling a childhood dream.
Additionally, Dr Campbell is a clinical supervisor and lecturer at the University of Melbourne and has worked at the Australian College of Optometry. She has a current role with the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia.
Dr Campbell’s clinical expertise centres on speciality contact lenses (including sclerals, hybrids and ortho-k) as well as complex conditions such as paediatric aphakia, keratoconus and corneal grafts.
Outside of her practice, Dr Campbell has volunteered her expertise in skill development and service delivery in Vanuatu and India.
Read Dr Campbell’s profile to learn about her work, her insights on running a practice, the females who inspire her professionally, and why she makes it her mission to mentor other women in the industry.
Dr Patricia Flores
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™ Pro
Dr Patricia Flores has an extensive background in vision science. She earned a diploma, masters and PhD in optics, optometry and vision at the University of Madrid. Dr Flores runs her own specialty lens clinic in Valparaíso, Chile specialising in myopia control and complex contact lens fits for diseases of the ocular surface.
An accomplished researcher and educator, Dr Flores lectures in Latin America and around the world, and currently works in Global Professional Services for the specialty lens division at Menicon.
Dr Flores is fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society (SLS), member of International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE), member for the Latin American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control (ALOCM), member for Gas Permeable Lens Institute (GPLI) and board member for International Scleral Contact Lens (ICSC). She is also co-founder and board member for Global Ophthalmic Women (GLOW).
Read Dr Flores’s profile to learn about her accomplishments, how the industry has changed for women in South America over her career, and what she feels are the big issues affecting women in optometry today.
Dr Stephanie Woo
Medmont instrument of choice: Medmont Meridia™
Dr Stephanie Woo is CEO of Contact Lens Institute of Nevada, a clinic dedicated to custom contact lenses.
Dr Woo was trained to fit highly irregular corneas during her Cornea and Contact Lens Residency at the University of Missouri, St. Louis.
She is also the CEO of Woo U, a non-profit organisation committed to educating eye care professionals, and past president of the Scleral Lens Education Society.
She is a frequent contributor to industry publications including Contact Lens Spectrum, Contact Lens and Cornea section of the American Optometric Association and more.
Read Dr Woo’s profile to learn about her work, her female inspirations—and discover her practical advice for women starting their optometry career.
