Brien Holden OAM, BAppSc,Ph, DSc

Professor Brien Holden is a world leader in eye health and vision correction research, education and public health. He is a founder and CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Vision Cooperative Research Centre, and a Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of New South Wales. He was co-founder of the International Association of Contact Lens Educators, founding President-elect of the International Society for Contact Lens Research and founder of the Optometric Vision Research Foundation. He is author of over 200 refereed research papers and 400 refereed scientific abstracts.

In the area of international public health, Professor Holden is respected for his innovation and leadership in eliminating avoidable blindness and impaired vision due to uncorrected refractive error. He is a Trustee Board Member of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and in 2003 was appointed Chair of the World Health Organisation Refractive Error Working Group. He is also Chair of the Board of Management of Vision Care NSW.

Professor Holden graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BAppSc in 1963 and from City University (London) with a PhD in 1971. His distinguished contribution to optometry and vision science has been recognised with several prestigious international awards including the recent American Academy of Optometry highest honour – the Charles F. Prentice Medal (established in 1958) in recognition of a career-long record of advancement of knowledge in vision science.