Dr Katie Edwards is a lecturer and researcher with specific expertise in epidemiological and clinical investigations of the anterior eye. Dr Edwards graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Optometry in 1999. She then worked in private optometry practice and as a research optometrist at the Cooperative Research Centre for Eye Research and Technology, University of New South Wales (UNSW). She completed her PhD at UNSW in 2008 under the supervision of Prof Fiona Stapleton.

In 2008, she joined the Anterior Eye Laboratory at QUT under the direction of Professor Nathan Efron as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, working on translational research into ophthalmic markers of diabetic neuropathy in the LANDMark Study (Longitudinal Assessment of Neuropathy in Diabetes using novel ophthalmic Markers). In 2013, Dr Edwards was awarded a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to further explore the natural history of changes to corneal nerves in diabetic neuropathy and in health.

In 2017, Dr Edwards was appointed as a lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Science, and she took over leadership of the Anterior Eye Lab. Her teaching areas include anatomy, physiology and diseases of the anterior eye. Her current research interests include cellular level imaging of the anterior eye, investigating the anterior eye as a marker of systemic disease, and understanding the neurobiology of ocular surface symptoms. She also currently serves as Associate Editor for the journal Clinical and Experimental Optometry.

Research Highlights

Anterior Eye Laboratory