Ramya Natarajan |Candice Pearson | Shashank Bhandary | Azam Darvishi | Samaneh Hashemi | Asif Iqbal | Mahdi Heravian Shandiz
Ramya Natarajan
Thesis Title: Crystalline lens characteristics of pre-myopic children
Ramya commenced her doctoral research degree with QUT’s Contact Lens and Visual Optics Laboratory (CLVOL) in February 2025. Ramya will work under the supervision of Dr Rohan Hughes (Principal Supervisor), along with Dr Emily Woodman and Dr Andrew Carkeet (Associate Supervisors).
Ramya’s research project aims to examine the morphology of crystalline lens during active and relaxed accommodation, with particular emphasis on assessing morphological changes and axial length variations in children with myopia.
Candice Pearson
Thesis Title: Reducing distress associated with administration of cyclopentolate 1% eye drops in paediatric eye examinations
Candice commenced her PhD at QUT in March 2025. Her research aims to identify and address key factors contributing to distress in children during administration of cyclopentolate 1% eye drops. The research will focus on reducing sting on instillation and optimising administration procedure by modifying variables including the drug’s pH, drop volume, and delivery mode, to minimise patient distress and improve the overall patient experience.
Candice’s HDR supervisory team is comprised of Dr Shelley Hopkins (QUT Principal Supervisor), Professor Stephen Vincent (QUT Associate Supervisor), Associate Professor Nazrul Islam (QUT Associate Supervisor, Pharmacy), and Florine Pilon (External Supervisor, Bartiméus, Netherlands).
Shashank Bhandary
Thesis Title: Using objective methods to understand the effects of near activities on myopia-genic visual environment factors
Shashank arrived in Brisbane, in July 2023, ready to commence full-time higher degree research studies within QUT’s Optometry and Vision research discipline. Shashank’s research project will utilise novel objective measurement methods to investigate visual environment factors associated with myopia. This will provide new insights into the impact of the modern visual environment and visual tasks upon myopia, and potentially identify novel treatment methods and strategies for preventing myopia development. Shashank’s thesis is guided by Principal Supervisor, Professor Scott Read and Associate Supervisor, Professor Stephen Vincent.
Azam Darvishi
Thesis Title: Investigation of the effects of different wavelengths of light on myopia
Azam commenced her PhD candidature in June 2023. Azam’s Principal Supervisor is Professor Scott Read, with supervisory support being provided by Professor Stephen Vincent.
Azam’s research project will investigate the effects of different wavelengths of light, on myopia. Despite the relationship between light intensity and myopia, the effects of various light wavelengths and their effects upon myopia have gained momentum and interest. Refractive growth is influenced by the ambient spectral composition. The purpose of Azam’s research study is to determine the effects of short-wavelength lighting and long-wavelength lighting on choroidal thickness in humans.
Azam completed her PhD Confirmation Seminar titled: Investigation of the effects of different aspects of light exposure on the choroidal characteristics of the human eye, on Monday, 8 July 2024.
Samaneh Hashemi
Thesis Title: Ocular/Tissue blood flow imaging using optical coherence tomography angiography
Samaneh commenced her PhD journey as a full-time QUT student in May 2023. Her research project will focus on the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) images of the human eye with an emphasis on quantifying image processing and overcoming specific OCT-A’s imaging limitations in the posterior area of the eye. Samaneh’s QUT HDR Principal Supervisor is Professor Zhiyong Li (School of Mech. Med. & Proc. Eng.), with supervisory support provided by Centre for Vision & Eye Research staff: Dr David Alonso Caneiro, Professor Scott Read and Professor Michael Collins.
Samaneh Hashemi delivered her PhD Confirmation Seminar titled, Blood flow characterization using ocular optical coherence, on Friday, 31st May 2024.
Asif Iqbal
Thesis Title: Tear exchange during scleral lens wear and its association with central and peripheral corneal oedema with different lens fitting characteristics
Asif Iqbal commenced his PhD candidature in the Contact Lens and Visual Optics Laboratory at QUT’s School of Optometry and Vision Science, in October 2022. Asif’s Principal Supervisor is
Prof Stephen Vincent, and his Associate Supervisors are Professor Michael Collins, Dr Damien Fisher and Dr David Alonso-Caneiro.
Asif’s research project aims to quantify tear exchange during scleral lens wear, with a focus on the occurrence of central and peripheral corneal oedema when scleral lenses with differing lens fitting characteristics are introduced. Asif also plans to investigate how varying lens modification options may improve tear exchange and ensue a positive impact on corneal physiology.
Asif Iqbal delivered his PhD Confirmation Seminar titled, Tear Exchange During Scleral Lens Wear, on Thursday, 2nd November 2023. In November 2024, Asif presented his HDR research findings at the 2024 AAO Meeting held in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. More recently, Asif was invited to present his HDR research findings at the 2025 BCLA Conference held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and he also received a fellowship award at this same conference. Later in October 2025, Asif will deliver an oral presentation titled “Scleral lens landing zone toricity and tear exchange” at the 2025 AAO Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Publications (arising from thesis):
Iqbal, Asif, Fisher, Damien, Alonso Caneiro, David, Collins, Michael, & Vincent, Steve (2025) Quantifying tear exchange during rigid contact lens wear using corneoscleral profilometry: A proof of concept study. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 45(3), pp. 598-606.
Iqbal, Asif, Fisher, Damien, Alonso Caneiro, David, Collins, Michael, & Vincent, Steve (2024) The central and peripheral corneal response to short-term hypoxia. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 44(7), pp. 1524-1529.
Iqbal, Asif, Fisher, Damien, Alonso Caneiro, David, Collins, Michael, & Vincent, Steve (2024) Central and peripheral scleral lens-induced corneal oedema. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 44(4), pp. 792-800.
Mahdi Heravian Shandiz
Thesis Title: Development of image analysis methods using deep learning for eye tracking
Mahdi commenced a doctoral research degree with QUT’s Contact Lens and Visual Optics Laboratory (CLVOL) in May 2021. For two years, Mahdi completed his research as a part-time student whilst he resided in Mashhad, Iran. In August 2023, Mahdi was regarded as a full-time PhD student, and he arrived at QUT in Brisbane in early November 2023. Mahdi’s supervisory team is comprised of Professor Scott Read (QUT Principal Supervisor), Professor Michael Collins (QUT Associate Supervisor), and Dr David Alonso-Caneiro (Associate Supervisor, University of the Sunshine Coast).
Mahdi’s research project will investigate the use of deep leaning image analysis methods for mobile eye tracking consisting effective blink detection, pupil detection, scene camera depth estimation and the clinical applications.
Mahdi Heravian Shandiz delivered his PhD Confirmation Seminar titled, Developing Deep Learning Image Analysis Methods for Mobile Eye Tracking, on Wednesday, 24th January 2024.
Conference Presentation:
Shandiz, Mahdi Heravian, Alonso-Caneiro, David, Read, Scott A., & Collins, Michael J. (2024) A Variational Autoencoder Approach for Blink Detection in Mobile Eye Tracking Devices. In Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications (DICTA 2024). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., United States of America, pp. 419-426.