ContactConnect 2025

Dr. Christine W. Sindt

Dr. Christine W. Sindt is a 1994 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Optometry.  She completed a disease-based residency at the Cleveland VA Medical Center where she also did subspecialty rotations in low vision and advanced contact lens fitting.  Dr Sindt joined the Faculty of the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 1995, where she is a Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Director of the Contact Lens Service.  Dr Sindt is a Fellow in the American Academy of Optometry.  She is the 2010-2011 AOA CLCS Chair, Past President of Women of Vision and the Past President and co-founder of the Scleral Lens Education Society

Daddi Fadel - DOptom, FSLS, FBCLA, FAAO, FIACLE

She is a clinical scientist at the Center for Ocular Research and Education (CORE) and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She is a Pioneer of modern lens designs and a specialist in contact lenses for irregular cornea, scleral lenses, myopia control, and orthokeratology. She studied optometry at Istituto Superiore di Scienze Optometriche (ISSO) in Rome (1998-2001), a four-year course achieved in three years with honors.

She is the Founder of the European School of Scleral Lenses (EUROSCOLE), the Global Ophthalmic Women (GLOW), and The Summit of Specialty Contacts (SSC). 

Fadel is also the Chair of the Global Ambassadors of the British Contact Lens Association (BCLA), a member of the GPLI Advisory Board, a member of the medical advisory board of the International Keratoconus Academy (IKA), and a clinical advisor of Myopia Care.

Dr. Byki Huntjens -  Consultant educator and researcher

Dr Byki Huntjens is a qualified optometrist from the Netherlands who obtained her MSc and PhD at the University of Manchester in the UK. She taught contact lenses at City and St George’s, University of London for over a decade, and recently became an independent education and research consultant in contact lenses and dry eye. In addition, Byki is Educational Lead with the Association of Optometrists, and an honorary senior research fellow at City University collaborating on the TFOS Lifestyle report, BCLA CLEAR, and Cochrane review on 'Interventions for myopia control in children'. She is the BCLA President-Elect and council member and Director of IACLE and was awarded fellowships from both associations.