Fiona Buckmaster wins 2015 Coopervision FORCE student prize

Third-year optometry student Fiona Buckmaster has won the 2015 Coopervision Future Ocular Research Creativity Event (FORCE) Student of the Year prize for her research on the effects of environmental conditions on tests of tear production.

Her study showed that many patients with borderline results with the Schirmer test may be misdiagnosed as having dry eye if the test has been undertaken in a low humidity environment.

Buckmaster, pictured with judge Nick Rumney and Karl Aberdeen, UK & Ireland professional relations manager at Coopervision, said: ‘The whole experience has opened my eyes to some of the opportunities that are available through doing research and through meeting with people from different aspects of optometry.’