Nathan Efron (born 3 September 1954) is an Australian and British

optometrist Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care. In the Un ...

and an author of numerous research papers and nine books.

Biography

Efron received undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

in 1981 and the same year became a

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

of the

Contact Lens Society of Australia Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...

. He left for postdoctoral studies at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

. He returned to Melbourne as a lecturer then senior lecturer before becoming the chair of clinical optometry at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

in 1990. He became a founding chairman of the clinical optometry at the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

where he also founded a

contact lens Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...

research unit known as Eurolens Research. Efron has served as president of the Australian College of Optometry since 2012. A recipient of a

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

from Manchester, Efron is also a past president of the

British Contact Lens Association The British Contact Lens Association is an educational and scientific membership organisation formed in 1977. In 2013 it had 2000 members. It organises an annual Clinical Conference and Exhibition. In 2015 the main themes were myopia management ...

. In 2001 he was awarded a gold medal by the same association and began to serve as a dean at the University of Manchester from that year till 2004. In 2003 he received the

Max Schapero Award Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

and by 2006 he returned to his homeland as a research

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...

. He joined

Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation The Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) was an Australian collaborative medical research institute established in 2000 and based at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Queensland. While the bulk of the ...

, School of Optometry at

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

the same year and currently has grants from the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and the George Weaber Foundation Trust. in 2015, he was honoured in the Queens Birthdays honours list.

References

1954 births Living people Australian optometrists British ophthalmologists University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Academics of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology Academic staff of Queensland University of Technology Companions of the Order of Australia {{UK-med-bio-stub