Optometrists from around Australia recently gathered at The Promenade, in Melbourne’s Docklands, for an educational evening hosted by EssilorLuxottica and built around three hot topics in clinical eye care: myopia management, dry eye and presbyopia. Three expert-led sessions ran back-to-back, followed by a Q&A and dinner.
Opening the event on the eve of OSHOW26, Stephen Locke, Vice President of Professional Solutions ANZ at EssilorLuxottica, set the broader ambition for the evening, describing a vision to “empower humans” through science, technology and the highest standards of professional care, and noting that myopia, dry eye and presbyopia sit at “the bedrock of our industry and the transformation” it is undergoing. Sephora Miao, Head of Medical and Professional Affairs ANZ, then reinforced the importance of translating these advances into meaningful, practical application for clinicians, setting the stage for insights from Dr Björn Drobe, Dr Kate Gifford, Dr Oliver Woo, Dr Loren Rose, Shaina Zheng, Jason Holland, Professor Lisa Keay and Tim Thurn.
Myopia: From Bifocals To Stellest 2.0
Sydney ophthalmologist Dr Loren Rose opened the myopia session by walking through her clinical pathway, starting with “cycloplegic refraction to try and get that really accurate refraction”, early conversations about outdoor time, and screening for red flags of syndromic myopia. On atropine, she cautioned that ATLAS-study1data shows clinicians “lose the benefit of all those years of treatment” if they stop too early, and explained she now starts most patients on a myopia control spectacle lens, adding low-dose atropine – “0.01% as my first dose” – only when progression continues.
Dr Oliver Woo emphasised that true differentiation comes from clinical expertise, a clear myopia management strategy and a positive patient experience – ultimately leading to referrals from satisfied parents – rather than simply offering a myopia control product.
Dr Kate Gifford, optometrist and co-founder of MyopiaProfile, presented her newly released Stellest infographic, the product of “a collaboration with the Essilor Luxottica team at global” which distills more than 80 independent publications. She highlighted emerging evidence in pre-myopia: “if we can delay myopia onset by just one year, we can save around three quarters of the dioptre in final myopia”.
Dr Björn Drobe, Director of R&D Applied Myopia Research at EssilorLuxottica, highlighted the expanding evidence base for Stellest across diverse populations, including research in a US paediatric population that contributed to its market authorisation. He also outlined the scientific rationale behind Stellest 2.0, explaining how additional lenslets and increased asphericity were developed to further optimise the lens design for myopia management21 Looking beyond myopia management in children, Dr Drobe pointed to ongoing research in adult populations, reflecting the continued evolution of the evidence and exploration of the technology across a broader range of applications.
From left: Shaina Zheng, Amy Pillay, Oliver Woo, Dr Björn Drobe, Dr Kate Gifford, Dr Loren Rose, and Dr Michele Ginocchietti (Head of EssilorLuxottica ANZ).
Dry Eye: Going Beyond Drops
Brisbane optometrist and co-founder of Dry Eye Society, Shaina Zheng, opened the dry eye session by reframing the clinical challenge as one of awareness rather than diagnosis. Citing US research, she noted that “more than half of the patients reported that their eye care provider was not their primary source of information about dry eye”. This, she said, leaves many stuck in a drops-and-frustration cycle before they ever see an optometrist. “People aren’t ignoring us… we’re not a visible solution,” she said, urging practices to “close the gap through every conversation”.
Dr Shaina Zheng
Jason Holland, also a Brisbane optometrist and co-founder and current President of Dry Eye Society, then took the room through the evidence base, built on the latest global dry eye consensus report (the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society’s third dry eye workshop paper [TFOS III]), which sifted more than 8,000 papers down to just over a thousand. “If you’ve only got symptoms, that’s not dry eye disease… if you’ve only got signs, that’s not dry eye disease,” he said. Mr Holland provided directions for a fast triage using an ocular surface disease index-6 questionnaire plus tear break-up time or staining – and urged clinicians to use both fluorescein and lissamine green so patients don’t leave “still glowing” but undiagnosed. On treatment, he contrasted intense pulsed light, which works on inflammation and lid flora, with low-level light therapy (LLLT), which “melts the meibum” via photobiomodulation. While both treatments are effective, he said weekly treatment with LLLT for just three weeks, and gland expression, can be life changing. His message to the room: “eye drops might work, but it’s a burden on quality of life”.
Presbyopia Through The Ages
Professor Lisa Keay, Head of the School of Optometry and Vision Science at University of New South Wales, opened the final session with population data, noting Australia is heading towards a “top heavy” population with roughly 40% of Australians now over 40 years of age. Drawing on the recently completed Australian Eye and Ear Health Survey,4 she revealed that among people over 50, only 35% wear multifocals and just 10% use more than one pair of glasses regularly. She linked uncorrected near vision to broader health, citing Lancet Commission modelling5 that tackling risk factors – including vision.
Retired optometrist and long-time contributor to the optical industry, Tim Thurn, followed with a case-based look at pre-presbyopia, using a 38-year-old “digital producer” patient to demonstrate that need assessment matters more than lens choice alone. Tracing progressive lens development from Bernard Maitenaz’s 1959 prototype through decades of Essilor research and development into digital surfacing, virtual reality simulation and behavioural artificial intelligence (AI), he posed the question, “why would you forego natural continuous vision for something that’s not?”.
Q&A: Living With Vision Loss and Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses
Later in the evening, a candid Q&A between EssilorLuxottica’s Head of Medical and Professional Affairs, Sephora Miao, and Marion Shilo, who lost most of her sight to an optic nerve stroke in 2014, provided an insight into Ray-Ban Meta AI eyewear’s capacity to empower independence.
Ms Shilo said they enable her to undertake daily tasks – reading signs, checking train times, and “having a conversation”. They also support her craft and songwriting, including her hand-knitted beanies and her new single, ‘A love affair’, that she wrote about the glasses themselves. “I’ve lost my sight, but not my view,” she said, describing the technology as “just out of this league”.
The evening concluded with a recording of ‘A love affair’ played to an enthralled audience.
References
- Li Y, Yip M, Ang M, et al. Topical atropine for childhood myopia control: The atropine treatment long-term assessment study. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024 Jan 1;142(1):15-23. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.5467.
- Shen J, Hunt C, Young G, Drobe B. Spectacle Lenses With Highly Aspherical Lenslets for Myopia Control: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2026 Aug 20:e263288. doi: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2026.3288. Epub ahead of print.
- Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop III. Available at tearfilm.org/paginalong-tfos_dews_iii_downloadable_summaries/7646_7644/eng [accessed Aug 2026].
- Australian Eye and Ear health Survey August 2022-March 2025.
- Livingston G, Huntley J, Mukadam N, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission. Lancet. 2024 Aug 10;404(10452):572-628. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01296-0.
