Appointments to the Optical Registration Board - 20 August 2021

On the nomination of the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, has appointed the following as a member of the Optical Registration Board with effect from 20 August 2021 until 19 August 2025:

Professor Gordon Chambers

Professor Gordon Chambers is a senior lecturer in the School of Physics & Clinical & Optometric Sciences at the Technological University Dublin. He graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology with a Diploma in Applied Science (Physics and Chemistry) in 1997 and with a first-class honours BSc in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Dublin in 1997. In 2001 he received a PhD, from Dublin Institute of Technology, with a research thesis entitled "In situ spectroscopic monitoring of the electronic transport properties of fullerene thin films".

His research interests are in the areas of nanoscience, materials science, and nanotoxicology and spans physical, chemical and biological systems. It was based on his extensive research and PhD supervision in these areas that he was awarded a professorship in 2017.

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, with the consent of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, has appointed the following as a member of the Optical Registration Board with effect from 20 August 2021 until 19 August 2025:

Ms Ursula Byrne

Ms Ursula Byrne is a registered general nurse, a registered midwife and a registered nurse tutor. She has extensive experience in nursing and midwifery clinical practice, education and management in Ireland, Canada and Australia. She has worked at a senior level in nursing and midwifery regulation for many years, particularly in fitness to practise, registration, education and professional guidance and standards.