Roberta McIlraith

President

Roberta has been practising optometry since 2003, mostly working in a specialty contact lens practice in Christchurch. Now that she has her own practice she continues to have a passion for specialty contact lenses, enjoying all patient interactions, but especially the challenge of managing myopia with orthokeratology and soft lenses. The most rewarding aspect of her job is correcting eyes that have previously struggled to see, such as in keratoconus. Roberta has also spent time in contact lens research in England, and some years locuming throughout Australia. She is looking forward to bringing her expertise and experience to the council table and taking on the challenge of being the president of the CCLSNZ..

Eleisha dudson

Vice-president

Eleisha graduated from the University of Auckland with honours in 2007, and is an optometrist with an interest in specialty contact lens fitting, orthokeratology, and myopia management. Passionate about optometry, she gained her Fellowship for the International Academy of OrthoK and Myopia control in 2016.

Originally from Dunedin, she lives in Wellington, and works in private practice in the central city. She has been on the CCLSNZ council since 2015 and is pleased to have the opportunity to step into the role of vice- president.

Richard Newson

Treasurer

A past president of the CCLSNZ (1999-2001) and a long serving council member, Richard became Secretary/Treasurer in 2013. He is an optometrist, and the owner of Harrington Eyecare, based in the sunny Nelson region. Richard. is enthusiastic abut the benefits of CCLSNZ membership, especially the camaraderie and interaction between between optometrists and ophthalmologists. Equally, the CCLSNZ values the knowledge and support Richard has provided us over the years

annette morgan

secretary

Qualified in the 1980's, Annette has worked in private and corporate practice, and has been both self employed and an employee, mostly in greater Wellington and Kapiti. Annette is a past president of the NZAO and was been a long term councillor She is, a current member of the ODOB and became secretary of the CCLSNZ in 2019. She is old enough to remember the days before disposable lenses and is delighted to be practising at a time where there are many modalities to suit many patients.

Anne MAtheson

Councillor

Anne has been an Optometrist since 1986 when she was fitting RGP lenses to sporty astigmatic teenagers and Cibasoft tinted lenses to middle-aged hyperopes in the wilds of West Auckland. These days she’s a director at Sercombe and Matheson Opticians in central Wellington, where she’s more likely to be fitting multifocal disposable lenses to her presbyopic contemporaries, trying to take the perfect slit-lamp photo, or getting to grips with myopia management. She has been NZAO branch chairperson in both Canterbury and Wellington. Anne likes swimming outdoors in summer and finds solace in movies andboardgames in winter when it’s not warm enough to swim.

ADele jefferies

councillor

Adele graduated from the University of Auckland with Honours in 2003 and completed her postgraduate therapeutics studies in 2005. She is an optometrist working in independent practice in Auckland with special interests in contact lenses, ocular surface disease and therapeutics. Adele is passionate about optometry, and is currently a professional optometry teaching fellow at the University of Auckland, She’s a member of the CPD accreditation and the competence review committees of New Zealand Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board. Adele is looking forward to bringing back this wealth experience to the council of the CCLS..

RASHA Altaie

CounCillor

Rasha is an Irish-trained ophthalmologist, who graduated in 1996. She obtained her Fellowship in Ophthalmology from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2002, and her Master’s degree in cataract surgery in 2003 from University College, Galway.. She finished her higher surgical training scheme in Ireland in 2007 and was awarded several national and international awards while training. She has a dual fellowship in cornea and anterior segment, as well as paediatric ophthalmology. She is sub-specialized in cornea and anterior segment reconstruction, and paediatric ophthalmology. Rasha became a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists in 2015. She is currently senior lecturer in the Ophthalmology department at Auckland University, involved in teaching Optometrists, and research. She is working as a specialist with Counties Manukau District Health Board, and in the private sector at Milford Eye Clinic

Rasha’s main areas of research and interest are cataract, particularly in intraocular lens materials, cornea and anterior segment reconstruction, paediatric anterior segment diseases especially allergic eye disease, and prevention and early detection of keratoconus.

The CCLSNZ is thrilled to have Rasha on council as she brings with her a dedicated work ethic. and much knowledge.

james mcKelvie

councillor

James is a consultant ophthalmologist with sub-specialist fellowship training in cornea, anterior segment, cataract and refractive surgery. After returning from fellowship training in the UK, James is now based in Waikato DHB, Hamilton Eye Clinic, the University of Auckland and is the CEO of CatTrax, an award-winning health IT startup company. Research interests include improving health outcomes using big data and AI, intraocular lens optics and higher-order aberrations, keratoconus, corneal transplantation, surgical risk and all aspects of cataract surgery.  During his PhD, James was involved in clinical teaching for the Optometry Therapeutics course at the University of Auckland for several years. He is currently involved in clinical teaching for medical students and ophthalmology registrars as part of his role as Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland. s CEO of CatTrax, James has worked closely with a large number of optometrists to streamline the integration of high-quality ophthalmic care between community-based optometrists and ophthalmologists in public and private. CatTrax uses cutting edge technology to improve efficiency, reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.

Akilesh gokul

councillor

Akilesh (Aki) is a clinician-scientist who currently divides his time 50:50 as a Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow in the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland (UoA) and clinical practice. Aki graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Optometry and Vision Science in 2013. Following which, he immediately began work toward his PhD under the supervision of Professor Charles McGhee, Dr Stuti Misra and Professor Dipika Patel, within the Department of Ophthalmology, UoA. His PhD focused on keratoconus and accelerated corneal crosslinking (CXL) in New Zealand/Aotearoa and was completed in 2016. Aki continues to conduct clinical research in the areas of keratoconus and corneal crosslinking - including the supervision of PhD, MD and Honours students. Aki currently works in several clinical settings including in the community in general optometry and contact lens fitting at Mortimer Hirst Optometrists, and tertiary care as part of the team that provides the Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) keratoconus and crosslinking service, which is a collaboration between the Department of Ophthalmology, UoA and ADHB, as well as Professor Charles McGhee's anterior segment specialty clinics at Eye Institute.