About us

Eduardo Teixeira is a clinical Optometrist since July 2001 and he teaches at Beira Interior University as Assistant Lecturer in Optometry since September 2016. He was Inaugural Trustee from EAOO Board in 2009 and he is involved in the regulation of optometry in Portugal and the legal framework for optometrists in the Portuguese NHS and was President of the Board of Association of Licensed Optometrists (APLO) between 2004 and 2012. He is was the first Portuguese Optometrist to integrate an official health national organization, as member of the first Advisory Board of Entidade Reguladora da Saúde (ERS). He was also member of ECOO Professional Services Committee from May 2011 to May 2012. He study Optometry, Optics and Applied Physics in Beira Interior University, Covilhã, Portugal where he concludes is BsC Degree and his Advanced Optometry MSc Degree in Minho University, Braga Portugal. Eduardo is the current President of EAOO.

Mr. Nicholas Rumney is currently in a full-scope, award-winning practice in Hereford. A 3rd-generation optometrist, he graduated from Cardiff, did his pre-reg year at Bristol Eye Hospital, and completed an MSc in low vision in Melbourne. He was a Professional Qualifying and Fellowship examiner and was one of a handful of College of Optometrists members to complete the Fellowship by examination. He has been a FAAO since 1995. Recognizing that a stimulus was needed to encourage an interest in optometric therapeutics, Nick was instrumental in bringing Lou Catania from the US to the UK for a multi-center roadshow that was seen by over 700 optometrists. He was also a founding partner in the educational group “Optometric Educators” in 1997. Mr. Rumney was part of the GOC team that developed the regulations underpinning Specialist Therapeutic registration, and in 2012 he qualified as an independent prescriber. His practice is the only one in the UK dually registered for Investors in People (Gold) and ISO 9000, and was the first in the UK to introduce 3D-OCT. Mr. Rumney regularly presents on this technology at conferences. In 2011, Mr. Rumney became co-supervisor for the first optometry practice to be granted a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, sharing a 3-year PhD research student with Aston University. A new KTP project started in July 2015. Nick is one of a handful of optometrists to be awarded honorary Fellowship of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians Mr. Rumney has served on many National and International committees, including the General Optical Council (GOC), where he was a member of the Audit, Education and Investigation Committees and was the first optometrist to chair Standards. In 2008 he was appointed to the AAO Fellowship International Admissions Committee, and in 2013 was promoted to chair the International region. He recently stood down as clinical conference coordinator for the British Contact Lens Association and chaired the UK National Committee of Optometry Giving Sight until October 2016. In November 2016 he was awarded the Philip Cole prize for in practice research by the College of Optometrists.

Dr. Mireia Pacheco-Cutillas is a senior lecturer in Optometry at the Department of Optics and Optometry (FOOT) at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. She qualified as registered optometrist in 1986 and obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Optometry from Pennsylvania College of Optometry, USA in 1995 and her PhD was completed in 2004 at City University, London. Her research interests are on the areas of Peadiatrics, Binocular Vision, Colour Vision, Glaucoma, Motion Detection and Ageing. Mireia is a Fellow of the European Academy and held a Fellowship of the American Academy of Optometry (1996 – 2009) and was a member of the College of Optometrists (UK) from 1998-2002. Mireia is currently the President of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics.

Dr. Rob Hogan is a Past-President of the College of Optometrists and is a co-opted member of its Board. Rob has also recently stepped down after spending 8 years as a Member of the General Optical Council – the UK’s Optics Regulator. Rob is Chairman of the UK’s Directorate of Continuing Education and Training (DOCET). He is also the College’s nominee to the EAOO. Rob owns his own Consultancy, iCare Consulting Ltd, providing Clinical, Technical, Strategic, Commercial, Managerial and Professional Services and Advice to the Optical Sector.

Dr. Julie-Anne Little is a lecturer in Optometry at Ulster University in the UK, and she is a council member for the Association of Optometrists. Her research interests concern paediatric vision and the impact of intellectual disability on vision, and she has presented her research at numerous international scientific meetings and in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Julie-Anne is past-President of the European Council of Optometry & Optics (ECOO) and is involved with other stakeholder groups addressing the issues of preventable blindness and the importance of access to eyecare for citizens. Dr Little is the ECOO nominee as an EAOO Trustee, and is proud to be a Fellow of the European Academy of Optometry and Optics.

In 1981 Mrs. Stankova graduated as an ophthalmic optician from the Technical School of Fine Mechanics and Optics “Mikhail Lomonosov” in Sofia. She passed many trainings in abroad and the extensive training in 2015-2016 she got certified as “Kontaktlinsenspezialist / in (FH) Ernst-Abbe-Hochschule Jena – University of Applied Sciences, Fachbereich SciTec – Studiengang Augenoptik / Optometrie. At present Mrs. Stankova works in hers own company Eurooptic in activities such as personal adviser for visual problems and getting spectacles and Contact lenses. In 2009, Mrs.Stankova managed to obtain a state license for opening private Vocational training center for teaching Opticians in Dispensing optics and CETs.In addition, she has been involved with the professional and educational policy related to optics and optometry for over 15 years now at local and international level. As a President of the NABOO /National Association of Bulgarian Optometrists and Opticians/2005-2009/, Mrs. Stankova took the initiative to change the status of the profession of opticians in Bulgaria from the sector of craftsmanship to a status of healthcare. During the two mandates she managed to earn significant experience in the area of negotiations with the local government. She was also the initiator of the project Optometry in Bulgaria which began in 2004.During the year 2006 Mrs. Stankova was elected as a member of the Educational committee (2006 – 2008) of ECOO. In 2008 she was elected as a member of the Professional service committee of ECOO for a mandate of 2 years. From 2009 she has been a founder member of the EAOO. Since 2016 for its contribution to Bulgarian optometry she was announced as honored member of the Bulgarian Union of Optometrists.

Dr Ellen Svarverud is appointed Chair of the Education Committee by the Board. She was awarded her Academy Fellowship in 2015. She is Assistant Professor at the National Centre for Optics, Vision and Eye Care at University College of Southeast Norway, where she is doing research as well as teaching and supervising optometry students. She completed her optometry degree in Norway in 1992, and gained her doctorate in vision science from Reading University, UK, in 2010. Her broad optometric background includes clinical practice, education, research and development of the optometric profession. For some years, she has been involved in European optometry, both as an Academy trustee and a member of the Education committee, and as a member of the Board of Examiners at the European Council of Optometry and Optics. She also holds fellowship of the American Academy of Optometry.

Elaine Grisdale FBDO FAAO is ABDO’s Head of Professional Services and International Development. She qualified as a dispensing optician in 1985. Between 1989 and 2001 Elaine worked in France, where she was International Professional Relations Manager for Opticianry and Optometry for Essilor International liaising with professional bodies, vision scientists and academic institutions worldwide. In 1998 she was instrumental in creating Varilux University, the first international training centre dedicated to presbyopia and the ageing eye. Since 2007 she has been Head of Professional Services and International Development for the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. Her role entails promoting and developing CET events, managing the annual conference, Advice and Guidance to member professionals, liaising with optical bodies in the UK and abroad and developing ABDO activities internationally. She is past principal examiner in professional conduct for ABDO. She sits on many professional committees in the UK. In her long career Elaine has lectured on every continent . She has written many articles published in professional journals, been involved in writing teaching CD programmes and e-learning programmes and she had a book published in Mandarin co-written with Prof Irvin M. Borish. Due to her vast experience and fluent French, Elaine sits on the Jury Verres for the Silmo d’Or and is a Scientific Committee Member for the Silmo Academy. She has school level Spanish and is actively learning Mandarin. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and A Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers.