Blanka Golebiowski

Associate Professor Blanka Golebiowski is an accomplished optometrist and academic at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), where she serves as an Associate Professor in the School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS). With extensive clinical experience working in private practice across rural and metropolitan Australia and New Zealand, she brings practical expertise to her academic pursuits. Her research spans both ocular surface science and public health optometry, with a strong emphasis on translating research findings into real-world solutions and policy through collaboration with industry and external organizations.

Professor Golebiowski's research program has two major pillars. The first focuses on ocular surface and tear film research, investigating mechanisms causing dry eye and eye pain to develop effective treatments. Her work examines dry eye disease, meibomian gland dysfunction, ocular allergy, contact lenses, refractive surgery, corneal innervation, neuro-immune modulation, sex and gender effects on the eye, climate change impacts, and ocular surface health in children. She employs advanced methodologies including clinical trials, in vivo confocal microscopy, corneal nerve analysis, and ultrasensitive hormone measurement techniques. Her second research pillar addresses public health optometry, with a focus on improving eye care for underserved populations including asylum seekers and refugees, for which she coordinates the UNSW Eye Clinic in partnership with the Asylum Seekers Centre in Newtown.

Professor Golebiowski has established herself as a leader in multiple research domains, with her work on climate change impacts on ocular health gaining particular attention following Australian bushfires. Her research on sex and gender differences in dry eye has positioned her as a global expert in hormonal effects on ocular surface health. She has contributed to major international consensus reports including the British Contact Lens Association Global Consensus Report and the TFOS International Dry Eye Workshop.

• Vice-Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence: Postgraduate Research Supervision and Leadership in Supervision
• Named in Women Research Pioneers in Australian Optometry
• Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry
• AMP Tomorrow Maker award for asylum seeker eye care work
• Elected member of the International Society for Contact Lens Research
• Award for Outstanding Contribution to Research, SOVS

Professor Golebiowski has supervised 19 PhD students and over 70 Honours and Masters students throughout her career, serving as Postgraduate Research Director at SOVS from 2007-2017. Her current supervision focuses on sex and gender influences on ocular pain, neurobiology of dry eye, climate change impacts on eye health, and blinking patterns. She has secured significant research funding including an ARC Discovery Project (2019-2023) on sex steroids and tear lipid production, an AMP Tomorrow Fund grant (2019-2020) for asylum seeker eye care, and multiple UNSW internal grants.

She leads multiple research groups including the Ocular Surface research group, Public Health and Health Systems research group, and the Myopia Research Group. Her laboratory utilizes specialized equipment for in vivo confocal microscopy, corneal nerve analysis, meibomian gland assessment, and sex hormone measurement. She collaborates extensively with researchers globally, particularly in the areas of dry eye disease, contact lens research, and public health optometry, maintaining active partnerships in India, China, and Taiwan.