Download Abbas Asaria BSc (Hons) MCOptom, Founder and

Abbas Asaria BSc (Hons) MCOptom, Founder and Managing Director, Star Optical
Abbas Asaria comes from a large family of registered Eyecare Professionals including Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, Contact lens and Dispensing
Opticians and obtained his degree in Optometry from The City University in London. In his early career as an Optometrist and with a strong optical
and dispensing background, Abbas worked in practice, management, training and professional services roles. With a passion for professional
development and teaching, Abbas returned to The City University Optometry and Visual Science Department as a visiting Clinical Tutor, and
progressed to become Lead Clinician and Clinical Skills tutor for the Primary Care Clinic teaching and assessing clinical competence of
undergraduates. Alongside this role, Abbas founded EyeCan, a successful Pre-Reg training company.
It was in 2013, Abbas was approached by a large global ophthalmic company and went on to become a Regional Sales Manager and Clinical Affairs
Specialist. His accomplishments have been publicised in well-known industry press and has been personally acknowledged by recognised institutions
and key opinion leaders in the industry.
Tim Cole, Imaging Product Manager, Topcon GB Ltd
Tim joined Topcon in 2011 as a clinical product specialist and has now been the imaging product manager for just over a year. Prior to this Tim
trained as an ophthalmic imaging specialist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and then moved onto Blackpool Victoria Hospital in a career with the
NHS lasting almost ten years. Among his achievements, Tim has won awards for slit lamp imaging and is proud to have been published in the
Kanski/Bowling ophthalmic guide.
Over the past three years Tim has been involved with pioneering research with swept source OCT imaging and is now one of the company experts in
OCT angiography. Tim also lectures around the UK for hospitals and optometrists, notably on the annual professional certificate in medical retina.
Nicholas James Rumney, MScOptom, FCOptom FAAO FBCLA
Nick works in full-time private practice in Hereford. Until 2004 he was one of the founders of Optometric Educators Ltd. He is an examiner at PQE and
Fellowship level for the College of Optometrists. In 2001 he was elected to the General Optical Council. He was re-elected in December 2006 and his
appointment to the new Council was confirmed in 2009.
He has published over 40 papers in optometric journals, including: Journal of the Optical Society of America, Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics,
Optometry & Vision Science, Optometry Today, Optician, British Journal of Visual Impairment, British Journal of Optometry and Dispensing and even
the odd letter in the BMJ and Eye. He presents lectures and workshops to optometrists and ophthalmologists on low vision assessment, low vision
management, investigative techniques, ocular therapeutics, red eye management as well as other unrelated practice management issues such as
succession planning, computerised banking and political issues such as therapeutics. He has presented at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists 1996,
1999 and 2003 meetings. In 2001 he was one of two invited international lecturers at the SECO meeting in Atlanta, USA.
Dr Scott Mackie, MFDO ABDO (Hons) LVA Dip TP (IP), Pg Dip, (Cataract & Refractive Surgery) Mod (DRS) Mod (LS), Consultant
Optometrist, Mackie Opticians
Dr Mackie is a respected key opinion leader in the world of optometry and has been working within the optical industry for 30 years.
He is the founder and director of Mackie Opticians and is a visiting lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University and visiting Honorary Associate
Professor at Plymouth University.
He was an Honorary Consultant Optometrist at the Royal hospital for Sick Children from 2007-2009 and is the Co-Founder of the Scottish Contact
Lens and Ocular Surface Disease Society (SCLOSS) which is one of the leading CPD events in the UK optical industry.
He is a College of Optometrists assessor, sits on the General Optical Council and is a CPD Approver. Scott’s sub-specialities include Ocular Pathology,
Low Vision, Dementia and Specialist Dispensing
Rob Ward, i-Clarity Product Director, Topcon GB Ltd
Rob has been involved with practice management systems for opticians since 1990. He was the original developer of FOCUS, then began the
development of i-Clarity in 2010. An IT professional with a teaching qualification from Microsoft, he also has a Masters degree in Health Service
Administration from Leeds University and is joint owner of an independent practice in Cardiff. Rob is highly committed to the independent sector,
and firmly believes that i-Clarity can make a significant contribution to the profitability of independent opticians.
Laura Weston, Clinical Affairs Specialist, Topcon GB Ltd
With 10 years experience within the optical industry starting as a spectacle dispenser and then becoming an Ophthalmic Photographer in 2012, Laura
has been able to experience ophthalmic imaging in so many different settings, and using such a vast range of ophthalmic imaging equipment such as
OCT, FFA/ICG, Fundus Photography and Slit Lamp imaging for different patient pathology.
Laura’s greatest achievement was working at Oxford Eye Hospital where she was part of the imaging research team and was relied upon by Professor
MacLaren and C.K Patel to capture high quality images for their study patients in trials for conditions such as ROP, Choroideremia and Retinitis
Pigmentosa.