Congratulations to QUT’s Higher Degree Research (HDR) student and CLVOL member, Asif Iqbal, who in the span of just a few months has become a Fellow with the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA), granted the Dorothy Carlbourg Research Award by the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia (CCLSA), and awarded a Frank W. Weymouth Student Travel Fellowship by the American Academy of Optometry (AAO).
Asif Iqbal’s abstract titled “Tear exchange during scleral lens wear” was accepted for oral presentation at the 2025 British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) Conference, held in early June, in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Asif was conferred as a BCLA Fellow at the 2025 BCLA Conference.
On 8th September 2025, the Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia (CCLSA) offered the Dorothy Carlbourg Research Award, to Asif Iqbal, for his higher degree research work on ‘Fluid reservoir turbidity and morphological changes in the conjunctiva and sclera following scleral lens wear with different landing zone modifications’. This award provides Asif with funding of $3,500 AUD to support his ongoing scleral lens research.
Two days later, on 10th September 2025, the American Academy of Optometry (AAO) informed Asif Iqbal that he was a successful recipient of a Frank W. Weymouth Student Travel Fellowship which would provide financial assistance for Asif’s travel expenses to attend the 2025 AAO Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, in early October. Asif is delivering an oral talk titled “Scleral lens landing zone toricity and tear exchange” at the AAO Meeting.
These national and international accolades are genuine testament to Asif Iqbal’s outstanding success and research achievements as a HDR Student.
Asif Iqbal is supervised by Professor Steve Vincent, Professor Michael Collins, Dr Damien Fisher and Dr David Alonso-Caneiro. He is currently preparing for his Final PhD Seminar, planned for presentation in November 2025.