EYECARE KIDS - Key Persons
Andrew Beswick has worked in the optical industry for over 40 years, having started in 1975. He has previously been with Masterspecs Roselands for 17 years and worked for OPSM as their trainer. He is a qualified optical dispenser and is also the Practice Manager for Roselands practice.
As the practice manager, Andrew has extensive product knowledge of all lenses and frames and a high level of expertise with specialty optical needs. He likes that his job combines looking at things from a technical as well as an aesthetic perspective, solving people's vision problems while also giving them a great new look.
Job Titles:
- Vision Therapist Orthoptist
Asma Fayad has a keen interest in children's vision having graduated from the University of Sydney with a Masters of Orthoptics in 2012. She has worked extensively at Eyecare Plus in Roselands, and Eyecare Kids Hillsdale with various optometrists and provides eye care for the local school community.
During her Masters course, Asma worked at several private clinics including Primary Eye Care and Eye Associates, as well as in the public sector at Prince of Wales Hospital and Bankstown Hospital. She worked alongside many world renowned ophthalmologists in the areas of glaucoma, cataracts, retinal/vitreous and paediatrics.
Asma has also had the chance to travel to and work at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane to examine and treat paediatric cases.
Her specialty areas involve strabimus/eye-turns and difficult to diagnose ocular dysfunctions. She has a passion for providing the best vision therapy possible to patients of all ages.
Job Titles:
- Therapeutically Endorsed Behavioural Optometrist
Celine Zhang graduated from the UNSW Bachelor Optometry/Science course with First Class Honours. She also holds a Specialist Certificate in the Management of Paediatric Patients (Optometry). She is passionate about providing quality, individualised eye care to patients of all ages.
Celine has a special interest in paediatric optometry, vision therapy (visual skills, vision-related learning problems, strabismus and amblyopia, neuro-optometric rehabilitation), myopia management, dry eye, and therapeutic management of ocular disease.
In university, she was awarded the Susan Larter Vision Trust prize for "demonstrating clinical excellence and knowledge of paediatric optometry and vision training" and the Stage 4 Ocular Therapeutics Prize for the highest mark in therapeutics. She also completed an internship alongside renowned ophthalmologists in OMNI Eye Services New York and New Jersey, where she gained knowledge of surgical and advanced therapeutic treatments for eye disease.
Seeing a need for optometric care for patients who suffer from persistent visual symptoms post concussion, Celine has completed additional training with the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association, International (NORA) and is currently pursuing her Fellowship and Advanced Accreditation in Neuro-Optometric Care with the Australasian College of Behavioural Optometrists (ACBO).
She regularly co-manages patients with GPs, Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, Physiotherapists, Educational Psychologists, Occupational Therapists and Speech Therapists.
Job Titles:
- Behavioural Optometrist Orthokeratologist Therapeutically Endorsed
Job Titles:
- Optometrist
- Behavioural Optometrist
Dr Ali Khalife is a dedicated optometrist who currently works at Eyecare Plus Chullora and Eyecare Plus Bankstown. He has been practicing for over 10 years in these two locations and continues to build on his skills in order to provide the best possible eye care for all his patients.
Dr Ali Khalife has completed most of the Behavioural Optometry and Vision Therapy courses held by the Australian College of Behavioural Optometry as part of the Optometric Extension Program.
He has a strong passion for children's vision, specialty contact lens fittings for Keratoconus, Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) and management of ocular conditions.
Ali completed The UNSW Graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics in 2019 and is fully endorsed to prescribe ocular medication to treat certain eye diseases.
Dr Emily Chen graduated with a Bachelors of Optometry with First Class Honours at the University of New South Wales in 2013. In her final year of optometry she undertook a placement at OMNI Eye Centre in Atlanta USA working alongside ophthalmologists experienced in treating ocular diseases.
Dr Emily Chen began her career in the regional NSW and is passionate about providing personalised and comprehensive eye care to all her patients. She has a special interest in children's vision, myopia management and Ortho-k lenses.
Dr Emily Chen is therapeutically endorsed and can prescribe a wide variety of ocular medication. She is experienced in treating red eye conditions and removing foreign bodies. She has also been involved with co-managing glaucoma, macular degeneration, and laser eye surgery patients with ophthalmologists.
Job Titles:
- Therapeutically Endorsed Behavioural Optometrist
Dr Frances Grasso graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Vision Science and Master of Clinical Optometry. She believes in providing comprehensive and personalised eye care to meet each patient's unique needs.
Dr Frances has a special interest in paediatric optometry, myopia management including night lenses, and management and treatment of dry eye disease. As a therapeutically endorsed optometrist, she can prescribe medications to treat various ocular infections, inflammation, and glaucoma.
During her studies, Dr Frances participated in rural and regional placements around Australia. She also conducted research on the complications of contact lens wear, where she developed and validated a diagnostic algorithm to simplify the diagnosis of complications for clinicians.
Job Titles:
- Behavioural Optometrist
- Principal Behavioural Optometrist
Dr Janice Xue is the Principal Behavioural Optometrist and Vision Therapist at Eyecare Plus Broadway. Over the past decade, she has developed a particular interest/expertise in treating children's vision, myopia management, dry eyes and binocular vision anomalies, specifically the negative impact of digital lifestyles on eye muscles and concentration. Dr Janice takes the time to listen to her patients' complex visual complaints before seeking to identify and treat the root cause as a means of preventing deterioration of eye health.
Before this, Dr Janice practised as a therapeutically endorsed Optometrist at the prestigious Australian College of Optometry (ACO). She was actively involved in the management and treatment of ocular diseases (red eye/glaucoma/macular degeneration/retinal disease clinic) and served as a clinical teacher for final-year optometry students in the Children's, Primary Care and Ocular Disease unit. Dr Janice further pursued her interest in myopia management by traveling to Asia where she worked alongside renowned Orthokeratology and Paediatric practitioners for twelve months.
Dr Janice holds a degree in Optometry from the University of Melbourne after completing her internship at the SUNY College of Optometry in New York City, USA. A full member of Optometrists Association Australia, she regularly attends medical conferences to keep up-to-date with the latest industry practices and developments. She has continued post-graduate training at the Australian College of Behavioural Optometry as part of the Optometric Extension Program (OEP) in Behavioural Optometry and Vision therapy, and the Australian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) for a more holistic understanding of how eye problems can be interconnected with our whole body.
Job Titles:
- Optometrist
- Member of ECONA
Dr Kerry Ho graduated in 2016 from the University of New South Wales with the Bachelor's Degree in Vision Science and Optometry with Honors.
In his studies, he has gained a varied range of training in various places. In Australia, he has spent time training with optometrists and ophthalmologists in the Australian College of Optometry and the Royal Hobart Hospital. Kerry has studied in the Southwest Chongqing military hospital, learning about myopia control and rarer diseases in Asia.
Kerry Ho is therapeutically endorsed and has been trained to address a various range of eye conditions such as inflammation, glaucoma and common anterior eye diseases. He has spent a year researching about the shape of the cornea and its possible clinical applications to contact lenses. As a result of his previous work, he has a special interest in Orthokeratology and other forms of myopia control.
Kerry is an active member of ECONA, a branch of Optometry Australia NSW which advocates and supports optometrist with less than 10 years of experience. He is co-chair of the Scope of Practice subcommittee, which aims to expand and develop the way which optometrist can practice. He has presented in conferences, webinars and talks, as well as contributed to industry journals in Australia.
Dr. Linda Nguyen graduated with a Bachelor of Optometry at the University of New South Wales in 2006 and subsequently obtained additional qualifications to become an endorsed Ophthalmic Medicines Prescriber. She has also completed the Optometric Extension Program in behavioural vision care.
Linda has had experience across a variety of optometric settings including domiciliary visits, aged care facilities, schools, indigenous eye care and has worked in multiple behavioural optometry clinics. She has also participated in outreach clinics in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and outback Australia.
Her special interests include dry eye treatment, orthokeratology, myopia control and children's vision eye care in the area of vision related learning problems. She is not one to shy away from a good foreign body removal or a session of meibomian gland expression.
Linda enjoys connecting her patients and providing personalised, quality eye care. In 2020, Linda started Care Optometry, which is home visit and community outreach service. This passion project allows Linda to provide a mobile eye clinic service for people living with disability and those with accessibility issues.
Job Titles:
- Behavioural Optometrist Orthokeratologist
The concept of Eyecare Kids was developed by Dr SooJin Nam. As a mother of two boys, SooJin understands the concerns of parents when it comes to the wellbeing of their children. Being told that your child has poor vision and selecting their first pair of spectacles can be a daunting experience. Eyecare Kids was designed to make the whole eyecare and eyewear process fun, enjoyable and definitely educational.
The graphics developed for Eyecare Kids were developed in collaboration with SooJin's then four year old son, Max. Together, they created Max the Magician, Bella the Bear, Percy the Penguin and Danny the Dragon. They are all friends who live in Eyetopia and have been diagnosed with common visual problems found in children!
SooJin Nam has a special interest in children's vision, myopia control and learning difficulties, and in particular, the impact vision has on learning and concentration. SooJin enjoys learning and improving her clinical skills - she has travelled extensively both nationally and internationally for continuing education. She understands the importance of giving children a nurturing, supportive environment in order for them to achieve their best.
Soojin and her practices were fortunate to have been the recipient of multiple business awards over the years.
Job Titles:
- Optical Dispenser Practice Manager
Jasmine is one of our optical dispensers at Chullora. She graduated in optometry in Korea. During her 4th year, she came to Australia for an international internship. Since then, she had wanted to come back to Australia anyhow.
She worked in the marketing department in one of the Korean lens companies for 2 years after graduation in order to get to know better about lenses. After that, she returned to Australia and has been working at Eyecare Plus Chullora for 5 years.
With her optometry background and lens knowledge, Jasmine likes to solve all optical and dispensing issues whenever patients come back with any problems. She feels satisfied when she sees them happy with her help.
Outsider observation: Jasmine is quite the fashionista and makes even the simplest outfits look great! Her effortless sense of style is an inborn talent which helps her to select the best frames for our patients both in functionality and aesthetics.
Fun-fact: Jasmine used to be a junior swimmer! During this lockdown, Jasmine has been exercising by going for 10km walks along the Parramatta river every morning. She also enjoys cooking.
Jinnie Lee is an experienced optical dispenser and optical fashion stylist. Her knowledge of the most recent advances in optical technology will help you make the right choice of optical frames and best optical lenses.
Kitty Duong is a mother of two who is passionate about optical dispensing. She graduated with a Diploma of Optical Dispensing and has worked in Sydney, gaining experience and specialty skills in a vast range of optical needs for all patients.
She has worked in this industry for a few years before joining the team at Eyecare Plus Bankstown. If you need spectacles, Kitty can provide the most up-to-date trends and lens options to suit all face shapes. She strives on being able to serve our patients better by attending training events to know the latest in optical dispensing.
Job Titles:
- Vision Trust Prize ( Clinical Excellence and Knowledge of Paediatric Optometry and Vision Training )