Our People

Sophie Koh

(She/her)

Sophie started her optometry career in the Northern Territory. She has broad experience working in public health and corporate settings across metropolitan, rural and outback Australia. She has extensive experience working in ophthalmology teams and training nurses in East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Sophie studied her undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne and Graduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics at ACO. She is currently the National Professional Services Advisor at Optometry Australia. She is passionate about empowering students and colleagues to improve their knowledge so they can play a wider role in improving the health and wellbeing of our underprivileged communities locally and overseas. Sophie is passionate about corporate governance. She is a member of Governance Institute of Australia (GIA) and Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD), and has completed her Certificate in Governance for Not-For-Profits. She was the recipient of Victorian Government’s Women in Leadership scholarship and has completed AICD’s Company Directors Course.  
 
[email protected]

Professor Lauren Ayton

(She/her)

Associate Professor Lauren Ayton is an optometrist and medical researcher at the University of Melbourne. She leads the Vision Optimisation Unit, leading both natural history and interventional trials (including gene therapy) for inherited retinal diseases. Her research interests include retinal disease, low vision and vision restoration. Lauren is passionate about research translation and improving patient care. She is also the Director of SPARK Melbourne (a research accelerator program that originated at Stanford University) and is involved in several industry clinical trials and start-up companies. She has previously worked in industry in the USA, as part of a Harvard-affiliated startup company, Bionic Eye Technologies. Lauren has held positions on a number of committees, including Optometry Australia, Vision 2020 and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Theodora Elia-Adams, CA

(She/her)

Theodora Elia-Adams holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Taxation from the University of Melbourne and is a Chartered Accountant and an Associate Member, Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a board member, former EY partner, business advisor and tax specialist.  
 
Theodora has key skills in governance and quality assurance, finance and budget management, and risk identification and management. She has worked in the medtech, bioscience, construction, health, retail, banking, and wealth management industries.  
 
With 25 years of experience as a trusted business advisor and tax professional working with a broad and diverse range of enterprises from pre-revenue start-ups to some of world’s largest and best known brands, Theodora has valuable insight and experience into what makes businesses successful and the common pitfalls and traps that catch many businesses out.

Darrell Baker

Darrell Baker is the owner and director of Bullseye Optometry and Sensory Clinics in Perth, Western Australia. He has a special interest in the management of neuro-ophthalmic disorders. Darrell graduated in Johannesburg in 1986 and worked in Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United Kingdom before migrating to Australia in 1999 where he worked as a partner in an independent practice for over 12 years. Darrell has extensive experience in corporate governance. He is the immediate Past President Optometry Australia, former Vice President and Board director Optometry Australia, and is Past President Optometry Western Australia. Darrell is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Sayuri Grady

(She/her)

Sayuri Grady is currently Special Counsel consultant lawyer with Lawyerbank, having previously been General Counsel and Head of Legal at the Australian Public Service Commission. She has 15 years Executive and Senior Executive experience as a lawyer for various Australian Government Departments, including in Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Indigenous Affairs portfolio advising on Indigenous policy and working closely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. 

Sayuri has a diverse portfolio of Board and Committee experience, including the Australian Research Council, Australian Government Legal Service, the ACT Legal Aid Review Committee and is an External Adjudicator for ACT Corrections. She is a Past President of the ACT Division of the Association of Corporate Counsel Australia and was Chair of the Australian Government Legal Network’s Professional Development Committee. Sayuri is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Roman Serebrianik

(He/him)

Roman is an experienced optometrist, educator and public health clinician. He has been involved with the ACO since 2007- as full time staff for 12 years and more recently as a sessional optometrist, fulfilling a number of clinical and leadership roles, including Lead Optometrist Primary Care and Head of Primary and Specialist Services. Roman has also contributed to the ACO’s education offerings, through lectures to undergraduate students as well as involvement its certificate courses. More recently, Roman has worked in senior policy and advocacy roles at Vision 2020 Australia and the Stroke Foundation (current). 

Roman feels a strong connection with the ACO’s core ethos, mission statement and values; and of the unique position of the ACO in providing leadership in Australian optometry, community, allied health service delivery, education and research. Outside of the ACO, Roman is currently undertaking a Master of Public Health course and is a Standards Representative on select committees for the Consumers’ Federation of Australia.

Lien Trinh

(She/her)

Lien Trinh holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in Optometry (University of Melbourne, UNSW Sydney), and a Master of Public Health (LSHTM). Lien is a passionate advocate for health equity and dedicated optometrist based in Darwin delivering eye care to communities across the Northern Territory. Lien is also the founder of research translation podcast Talking Eyes. Lien began her optometry career as a clinical resident at the ACO in 2005, and has extensive experience working across not-for-profit, private and corporate sectors of optometry. More recently, she has led a number of key projects as a public health practitioner including Kids NT, an initiative to provide children in the Northern Territory the opportunity for vision screening, and EndTrachoma, a national project to support the elimination of trachoma in remote Indigenous communities. Lien has also worked in the low-income settings internationally as a volunteer optometrist, project officer and lecturer.

Prof Bruce Thompson AM

(He/him)

Professor Bruce Thompson AM is an active clinical scientist, with over 30 years of experience working in hospitals, universities, the community sector and business. He is the current Head of Melbourne School of Health Science at the University of Melbourne. Bruce is a key opinion leader in respiratory medicine nationally and internationally and sits on numerous national and international scientific and clinical committees, and boards for the profession, non-government and not for profit organisations, and industry. He has extensive international reputation across medicine (respiratory and cardiovascular) and biomedical engineering. He is past President of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and was the first non-medical president in the history of the society. 

His published works include a book on lung function, as well as numerous book chapters and 165 peer-reviewed journal articles and official documents. As an established clinical researcher in lung function, asthma, allergies and respiratory health, Bruce has been awarded competitive grants of over $35.9M including NHMRC and ARC schemes.

Dr Michelle Waugh

(She/her)

Dr Michelle Waugh completed undergraduate optometry and post graduate research, business and data analytics degrees at the University of Melbourne. She has worked with remote communities in the UK and Sri Lanka providing eye care as well as in Australian corporate and public health settings. As a previous clinician at the ACO she has provided eyecare across many of the general, specialist and teaching clinics there and understands the unique nature and value of the services that are provided.  
 
Michelle is also passionate about professional continuing education and helped to build the ACO education portfolio during her time with the ACO as a manager and Head of Education. During this time she completely redesigned many of the certificates to ensure they were evidence-based and implemented many continuous improvements and systems to ensure their ongoing viability. She also created the Public Health and Leadership in Eyecare Certificate and the ACO-GAP, a clinical self-assessment tool for auditing and guiding future personal CPD planning. 
 
More recently she has been involved in a collaborative health services digital implementation research project between the Centre for Eye Health and the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital and also supporting the global rollout of Johnson and Johnson’s myopia prevention product portfolio as part of their medical education and commercial divisions.

Pete Haydon

(He/him)

Pete Haydon’s current role as CEO of the Australian College Optometry began in November 2021. This appointment came after a twenty year career working in management and executive management roles within the not-for-profit and corporate sectors. He has built a reputation as a collegial leader and coalition builder, as well as a pragmatic and strong operational planner.  
 
Following the completion of his Masters-level tertiary qualifications he continued to advance his executive education in governance, strategy, workforce and leadership at some of the world’s most respected business schools. Pete’s personal philosophy and lifelong commitment to humanitarian principles have a strong alignment with those of the ACO.  
 
[email protected]

Tim Fricke

(He/him)

Tim Fricke is an optometrist, researcher and international development practitioner. Before returning to the ACO in 2023, Tim has held clinical, teaching, research, management, and leadership roles in private, public, community health, hospital and refugee camp settings, including Director of the Brien Holden Foundation. He has extensive paediatric clinical experience, supervised post-graduate research in paediatric eye care and health economics, has taught undergraduate and post-graduate eye care courses, and provided continuing professional development across Australia as well as overseas. 

Tim has researched vision development, epidemiology, quality of life and access to eye care and he has also assisted the development of local systems & skills for providing primary and specialised eye care in a range of countries. He is an honorary senior fellow at the University of Melbourne and is completing a PhD in ophthalmic epidemiology at UNSW Sydney.  
 
[email protected]

Kylie Harris

(She/her)

Starting her healthcare career as an optometrist, Kylie leveraged her strong clinical background to develop a diverse skillset across numerous fields of specialist medicine, focusing on improving patient experience and outcomes. Kylie has held numerous leadership roles within eye health, and is respected for her collegiality, acumen, sector expertise, project management skills, and ability to cultivate positive workplace dynamics.  
 
Joining the ACO in 2023, Kylie is passionate about establishing sustainable and inclusive care models for all Australians. She believes in the transformative power of strong relationships between healthcare providers having personally witnessed how effective communication can reduce patient anxiety and elevate the quality of care. Guiding the Operations team, Kylie is dedicated to advancing an outstanding workplace environment that forms the bedrock of delivering exceptional, personalised services to our patients.  
 
[email protected]

Chelsey Seamer

(She/her)

Chelsey Seamer was appointed as General Manager, People and Culture (formally known as Head of People and Culture) in July 2020. Passionate about maximising culture initiatives and enhancing employee relations, Chelsey aims to improve the overall employee experience. With a Diploma in Human Resource Management, Chelsey possesses a comprehensive understanding of the organisation from the ground up, brining valuable insights to her role in People and Culture. Chelsey began at the ACO in 2012, initially in a patient services position, and later transitioning to the role of Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer in 2016. This diverse background has shaped her unique perspective and approach to work, proving beneficial for both the ACO and its staff.  
 
[email protected]

Renaldo Tomasiello

(He/him)

With over 18 years of Senior Financial Management and Corporate Services experience, Renaldo brings a fresh approach to the many facets of the Corporate Governance process. A qualified CPA with an extensive background in Community Health, Aged Care, Disability and the Events Management sectors, Renaldo’s career highlights include the successful rollout of integration of CMS data and accounting systems including the implementation of business intelligence tools for value-added operational and strategic reporting. Driven by the motivation to bring automation and cost efficiencies to back office processes, Renaldo aims to provide business partnering support and added value whilst also maximising the profitability of the organisation.  
 
[email protected]

Dr Nelofar (Nellie) Deen

(She/her)

Dr Nellie Deen graduated with a Doctorate of Optometry in 2004 from SUNY College of Optometry, New York. She completed externships in Paediatrics and Vision Therapy at the Beth Israel Hospital in New York and in Ocular Diseases at the Newington Veterans Hospital in Newington, Connecticut.  
 
Nellie relocated to Melbourne in 2004 and was awarded her OCANZ certificate of Competency in Optometric Examination that year. Nellie joined the ACO in 2007, and is currently Head of Specialist Services and Clinical Care. Previous ACO roles include Lead Optometrist of Paediatrics Services and Lead Optometrist in Clinical Teaching. Nellie is a member of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), Optometry Australia and the Australian College of Optometry. She has presented at the Australian Vision Convention (AVC) Conference, Early Childhood Learning Conference and SEMO Conference.

Mae Chong

(She/her)

Mae is a clinical optometrist with special interest in the fields of low vision, paediatric optometry and ocular diseases. She is an experienced clinical instructor and is also actively involved in clinical research. Mae has presented lectures, workshops and tutorials to many audiences including optometrists, students and allied health professionals. A national level classifier with the Paralympics Australia, Mae is involved in the evaluation of vision impaired athletes. As General Manager Satellite Clinics, Mae oversees our network of Melbourne clinics, excluding our main location in Carlton. 

Josephine Li

(She/her)

Josephine completed her Bachelor degree in 2004, Graduate Certificate of Ocular Therapeutics and PhD in Science in 2008 at the University of Melbourne. Josephine has held various roles at the ACO including Staff Optometrist, Acting Lead Optometrist of Outreach Services and has led clinical research studies. Her professional interests include ocular diseases, clinical research and providing eye care services for people with multiple disabilities. As General Manager of Rural VES and Outreach Programs, Josephine’s role involves providing outreach eyecare services to disadvantaged communities and working closely with regional optometry partners to deliver the Victorian Eyecare Service (VES).

Lisa Lisperguer

(She/her)

Lisa has worked in every facet of the optical industry including sales, operations and business development over the past 18 years within corporate and independent organisations and joined the ACO in 2023 as the General Manager for Patient Services & Dispensing.  
 
To deepen her analytical and strategic skills, Lisa completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) through the Australian Institute of Business and graduated in 2023.  
 
At the ACO, Lisa is most passionate about uncovering new ways of working and improving efficiencies to ensure the organisation is set up for success into the future. She is equally focused on improving the patient experience at the ACO whilst continually developing her teams to accomplish shared goals and celebrate successes.