Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO

Dr. Kelly Nichols received her Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of California at Berkeley, completed a residency in ocular disease at Omni Eye Specialists of Colorado, and earned her MPH in biostatistics and PhD in vision science at Ohio State University.

In 2014, Dr. Nichols was named Dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry and is co-director of the Ocular Surface Institute at the Clinical Eye Research Facility. Dr. Nichols has served on TFOS steering committees (DEWS, DEWS II, Contact Lens Discomfort, and MGD workshops) and is part of the Lifestyle workshop.

A leading expert in dry eye disease, Dr. Nichols has been on the editorial boards of the journals Optometry and Vision Science and The Ocular Surface and is extensively published with over 125 papers. Dr. Nichols has had NIH NEI funding in the area of dry eye and MGD and has participated in numerous clinical trials and research studies over the last 25 years.

Currently, Dr. Nichols is a secretary of the research advocacy group NAEVR/AVER and is past President of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry.