Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers: Silver Medal Winner

The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (WCSM) has awarded its 6th Silver (Fincham) Medal to Shahina Pardhan – the UK’s first female Professor of Optometry.

Pardhan is Director of the Vision and Eye Research Institute at the School of Medicine at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. At the ceremony, WCSM celebrated her leadership of a multinational and multidisciplinary team of researchers, her authorship of over 200 publications, and “the many prizes, awards and research grants she has achieved since her appointment to the professorship at Anglia Ruskin in 2001.”

Noting that this is only the sixth time that the Medal has been awarded, WCSM Master Liz Shilling commented: “[Shahina Pardhan] has demonstrated sustained, career-long commitment to our founding principle of working for better vision for all, not just in terms of her personal record of achievement, but also as an inspirational advocate and mentor of research colleagues and as a champion for greater diversity and inclusion.”

WCSM awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. Gold Medals are rare, the most recent being awarded to Alan Bird in April 2023. From 2024, the individual Silver Medal “will be focused on mid-career researchers who can demonstrate national or international impact in the fields of education, research, innovation and/or clinical leadership.”

Submissions are also now open for the WCSM’s two annual Bronze Medal competitions. The Master’s Medal recognizes research in any aspect of vision or eye health published before, or within a year after, the author achieves a doctorate. The Ruskell Medal is open to those at the next stage of their careers – up to seven years post-doctorate.

Further information and application forms for the Silver and Bronze Medals can be found on the WCSM website.