Judy Nam

Judy Nam

PhD Candidate
Postgraduate Research Student
Medicine & Health School of Optometry and Vision Science

Biography

Judy Nam gradated with a Bachelor of Vision Science and Master of Clinical Optometry from the University of New South Wales. She works as a therapeutically-endorsed optometrist at the Centre for Eye Health, a collaborative care clinic aiming to improve accessibility and reduce preventable blindness in the community.

As a clinician-scientist her research interests lie in applying technology to improve early diagnosis of eye disease and enhancing collaborative care management. This has inspired her to explore areas of human computer interaction and artificial intelligence though a Graduate Certificate in Computing and applying it to enhancing eye care models in public health systems.

Judy is also the chair of the Early Career Optometrist NSW/ACT Committee, whereby she advocates and engages with younger members of the profession such that optometry remains an integral part of the healthcare community.

Research Title

Integration of artificial intelligence and telehealth technologies in eye care systems.

Supervisors

Dr Lisa Nivison-Smith, Prof Fiona Stapleton

Research Abstract

More than 90% of permanent visual impairment and blindness can be avoidable with early detection and timely intervention. However, accessibility to eye care remains a challenge in public health systems due to extensive ophthalmology wait times. This public health burden is exacerbated by the growing and ageing of our population, as existing public ophthalmology services are unable to meet the needs of Australians.

Telehealth models and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can be leveraged to alleviate the pressures on public eye care services, by improving efficiency and utilisation of existing resources through refining referral pathways, fostering collaborative care (between optometry and ophthalmology) and providing clinical decision support. This increased capacity enables improved accessibility to public eye care services and reduces the incidence of preventable irreversible vision loss in the population. However, there has been little to no investigation into the implementation of digital technologies to improve and upscale collaborative care models.

Thus, this research project aims to provide empirical evidence towards integration of telehealth models and AI technologies to enhance eye care delivery.

Email:

g.nam@unsw.edu.au

1. Nam J, Nivison-Smith L, Trinh M. Spatial Analysis Reveals Vascular Changes in Retinal and Choroidal Vessel Perfusion in Intermediate AMD With Reticular Pseudodrusen. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2024;65(2):33.


2. Nam J, Ly A, Kalloniatis M, Nivison-Smith L. Multispectral pattern recognition measures change in drusen area in age-related macular degeneration with high congruency to expert graders. Sci Rep. 2022;12(1):7442.


3. Trinh M, Nam J, Kumar M, Nivison-Smith L. OCTA Signal Quality Augmentation Using the Isometric Handgrip Test to Maximize Vascular Flow (SQUEEZE): A Randomized Crossover Trial. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2024;13(3):22.

    • Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship (2024 – 2027) 
    • Optometry Australia LOOK Scholarship 2024 
    • ARVO International Travel Grant 2023 
    • Mivision Prize in Recognition of Excellence in Social Engagement 2021 
    • AAO Student Fellow 2020
    • Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting 2024 
    • ARVO Imaging in the Eye 2024 
    • Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting 2023
    • American Academy of Optometry (AAO) Annual Meeting 2020 [virtual]
    • Optometry Australia (2018 – ) 
    • Early Career Optometrists NSW/ACT (2019 – ) 
    • Centre for Eye Health (2018 – )
    • PhD (Public Health) (2024 – ) UNSW Sydney, Australia
    • Graduate Certificate in Computing (2022 – ) UNSW Sydney, Australia 
    • Master of Clinical Optometry (2019-2021) UNSW Sydney, Australia 
    • Bachelor of Science (Vision) (2015-2018), UNSW Sydney, Australia