Professor Simon Barnard
Principal Optometrist and Partner
BSc(Hons), PhD, FCOptom FAAO, FEAOO, DipCLP DipClinOptom DipTh(IP)
Visiting Professor, Department of Optometry & Visual Science, School of Health Sciences, Hadassah, College, Jerusalem, Israel
Chief Medical Officer, IRRIS Medical Technologies
Professor Simon Barnard graduated from City University in 1976 with a First Class Honours degree. After working at the NOOR Eye Hospital, Kabul Afghanistan, he completed his training in private practice and at the Department of Contact lenses and Prosthetics, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.
Professor Barnard was a full time Lecturer in Clinical Optometry from 1979 to 1999, Director of Paediatric Clinics until 2002 and Tutor in Ocular Disease until 2004 at the Department of Optometry & Visual Science, City University, London.
He is Visiting Professor, Department of Optometry & Visual Science, School of Health Sciences, Hadassah, College, Jerusalem, Israel where he is responsible for the clinical section of the Masters Degree including the modules on Dyslexia & Learning Difficulties and Paediatrics. He is Director of Ocular Medicine at the Institute of Optometry, London and served until 2009 as a UK representative on the European Council of Optometrists (ECOO) Board of Examiners as Convenor of the Abnormal Ocular Conditions module of the European Diploma of Optometry and is Chairman of the Scope of Practice Committee of the ECOO. He is a member of the Society for Coloured Lens Prescribers as well as a founding member of the European Academy of Optometry.
He was awarded his PhD on eye movements in 1999, is a Fellow of the College of Optometrists and a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. His other qualifications include Certificates in Ocular Therapeutics from both Pennsylvannia College of Optometry, Philadelphia, USA and from City University, London. He holds a specialist Diploma in Contact Lens Practice from the College of Optometrists (British) and is Certificated (City University, London) in Contact Lenses for Abnormal Ocular Conditions, Diabetic Shared Care, Glaucoma Shared Care, Learning Difficulties and Paediatric Optometry. He was awarded the Diploma in Clinical Optometry (with Distinction) in 2001. In 2011 he qualified as an Independent Optometrist therapeutic Prescriber - DipTh(IP) and entered the GOC register in this speciality.
He was awarded Fellowship of the European Academy of Optometry in May 2014.
Professor Barnard has published over 30 clinical papers in journals or books and is the Co-Editor and Author of the textbook Paediatric Eye Care, published by Blackwell Science in 1996.
He is co-inventor of the Volk Eye Check
He has presented over 150 invited postgraduate lectures or research presentations in Croatia, France, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad, the UK and the USA. Professor Barnard has a wide range of clinical interests the main one being the field of paediatric optometry & visual aspects of learning difficulties in which he takes an “evidence-based” approach.