Media Release – Leading international eye association elects its first Australian President

The International Society of Contact Lens Specialists (ISCLS) has recently elected Perth optometrist and Fellow of the Scleral Lens Society, Damon Ezekiel, as its President at it’s 46th Congress in Washington D.C. Also at the Congress, Damon, and British optometrist Caroline Hodd, were awarded the prestigious Herschel Medal for their contribution to contact lens design, techniques, and in the advancement of the status of contact lens practice. Caroline is the only British woman to design a contact lens for unusual eye conditions. Damon’s father, Don Ezekiel, was awarded the Herschel Medal in 2005 for inventing the first gas permeable scleral lens.

Leading international eye association elects its first Australian President

The International Society of Contact Lens Specialists (ISCLS) has elected Perth optometrist Damon Ezekiel as its President, reflecting the first time the leadership of the 65-year-old organisation has been awarded to an Australian.

The ISCLS, the world’s first international contact lens society, comprises pioneers and global leaders in the practice, development and advancement of contact lenses.

Damon, owner of Ezekiel Eyes in Nedlands Perth, took over as President at the Society’s 46th Congress in Washington DC recently. Damon Ezekiel is also a Fellow of the Scleral Lens Education Society.

Also at the Congress, Damon and British optometrist, Caroline Hodd, were awarded the prestigious Herschel Medal*, given “in recognition of outstanding original contributions to contact lens design techniques and of fitting and application in clinical practice, in the education of students and in the advancement of the status of contact lens practice”. Caroline is the only British woman to ever design and market a contact lens to help people with unusual eye conditions.

Damon’s father, Don Ezekiel, Member of the Order of Australia, contact lens inventor and now retired Perth optometrist was awarded the Herschel Medal in 2005. Don invented and produced the world’s first gas permeable scleral contact lens.

*The Herschel Medal is named after English astronomer Sir John Herschel, who first proposed the idea of making a mold of a person’s eyes, to enable the production of corrective lenses that could conform to the front surface of the eye.