Hi folks,
Another year is here! While we still are working through the challenges that COVID-19 has presented to our faculty, students, and clinics, we are certainly beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
A big sign of changing times came when we welcomed our first-year students on campus for “in-person” orientation during the first week of September (pictured above). During the fall term, we will still operate under a few restrictions – students are still participating in didactic classes online while appearing in-person for clinical labs. We’re looking forward to a complete return to normal at the University of Waterloo in the winter term. We will keep our fingers crossed that vaccination rates continue to rise, and we can keep all variants of concern under control.
In June, we celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2021. While the celebrations remained virtual, we were happy to wish our new ODs well on their next chapter. If the original rap-song written and performed by valedictorian Dr. Cindy Chan is any indication, our creative and hard-working grads will be taking our profession by storm!
We also continue to reflect on the progress made on our School’s strategic plan, detailed in our report on progress released this summer, by refocusing on the steps required to fully realize our strategic goals by the end of 2023.
In this e-newsletter, I invite you to get to know one of our recent grads, Dr. Allison Binnie (OD’21), in this profile. We also introduced a new scholarship award with a unique story at this year’s convocation - established by a grateful patient in honour of alum Dr. Stelios Nikolakakis (OD’96).
We’re also happy to share with you a little news of the type of research our faculty are engaging in. You can read about Dr. Elizabeth Irving’s interdisciplinary research as she works to improve the interaction of vision with flight training by investigating evidence-based vision qualifications for pilots.
We continue to move forward on our ambitious plans for the Waterloo Eye Institute, as we complete site visits to prepare for the beginning of the construction phase. Thanks to the support of our community, we have now raised $16.5 million – helping us inch closer to our overall goal of $35 million. If you’re so inclined, UWOVS has launched a new way in which our alumni can support this critical institute through a partnership with ZEISS Canada.
I hope you enjoy catching up with our news. Thank you for reading!
All the best,
Stanley Woo, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO
Director, School of Optometry & Vision Science
