Kelly K. Nichols
OD, PhD, MPH, FAAO
Birmingham, Alabama, United States
Dean, Professor
Kelly K. 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 Ph.D. in vision science at Ohio State University. In 2014, Dr. Nichols was named Dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry.
Prior to that appointment, Dr. Nichols was a professor at the University of Houston, College of Optometry, where she co-founded and served as Executive Director for the Ocular Surface Institute, a translational research institute focused on bench-to-bedside research on ocular surface conditions. Earlier, Dr. Nichols was faculty at the Ohio State University College of Optometry.
Kelly K. Nichols currently serves as a medical adviser to the Sjögren's Syndrome Foundation, has served extensively on the executive board and for the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society and on each of the steering committees (DEWS, DEWS II, Contact Lens Discomfort, and MGD workshops), and is a founding member of Ocular Surface Society of Optometry. A leading expert in dry eye disease, Dr. Nichols is or has been on the editorial boards of the journals Optometry and Vision Science, and The Ocular Surface, and is extensively published.
