Dr. Etty Bitton (OD, MSc, FAAO, FBCLA) completed her Optometry Doctoral degree at the University of Waterloo (1988), followed by a Master’s in Physiological Optics (1994) from the Université de Montréal (Montreal, Canada), which focused on tear film clinical physiology and its relevance to patients exhibiting dry eye. Dr. Bitton presently holds the rank of full professor and currently directs the externship program at the Université de Montréal, École d'optométrie. She is a member of several national and international professional organizations. Her areas of interest are in the evaluation of the tear film, dry eye and contact lens wear. In 2021, she inaugurated and became the director of the Dry Eye Clinic at the School, a first in an optometry school in North America. Dr. Bitton was invited by the Tear Film Ocular Society (TFOS) to participate in the TFOS DEWS II and the Lifestyle Epidemic: Ocular Surface Disease reports, a global initiative to redefine dry eye and its etiologies. She represents this organization as one of the ambassadors for Canada. In 2019, Dr. Bitton received a certificate on the management of dry eye from the British Contact Lens Association.
Dr. Bitton is the 28th recipient of our Woodruff Distinguished Lecture award.