July 2022

July 2022
Gulnoza Azieva

(BS, Biology, ’18)

Q & A:

1. What was your favorite class, who was your favorite professor, or what is your fondest memory of Hofstra?
   My fondest memory of Hofstra was being a peer mentor for commuter students. I didn't have a mentor when I was a freshman, so I wanted to give back when the opportunity arose. I became a mentor to welcome all the incoming students who felt lost and nervous about college. I wanted the new students to feel welcomed in their new environment and to let them know that they had a friend who would help them figure things out. I was later awarded Mentor of the Year for this position!
2. What was your first job after graduating from Hofstra, and what was the most valuable thing learned in that position?
   My first job after graduating from Hofstra was working as a research technician at The Research Foundation at SUNY College of Optometry. I wanted to be a competitive applicant for optometry school, so I was excited to accept this position. Working in this vision science laboratory vastly expanded my academic knowledge and gave me an advantage for optometry school.
3. What is your field of specialty, and how did you come to work in the industry?
   I am currently a third year student at SUNY College of Optometry pursuing my dual-degree in Doctor of Optometry and Master of Science in Vision Science. My passion for optometry started in high school when I watched a documentary where an eye doctor entered North Korea to provide eye care. The doctor helped restore vision to many blind/visually impaired citizens, and I was inspired to help patients in need.
4. What advice would you give Hofstra students?
   I would tell students to find a work-study position (especially in Student Affairs!) and join clubs. Your education is important in college but so are your extracurriculars. You never know what lessons you will learn or what kinds of friends you will end up making.
5. In one word, how would you describe Hofstra?
   Enriching
6. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you see your career progressing to in the future?
   My long-term career goal includes three roles. (1) To deliver eye care to underrepresented communities and diverse populations by providing annual visual and ocular health exams. (2) To become an optometry educator and help teach future optometry students with the knowledge I have learned. (3) To become a vision scientist performing my own ocular surface and contact lens research and applying the latest discoveries to my patients.
7. How has your degree from Hofstra helped you?
   My passion for research started at Hofstra University in a neuroscience laboratory. The research I conducted allowed my professor to publish the findings in General and Comparative Endocrinology. This research experience made me want to explore more research areas in biology. I enrolled in multiple graduate courses including Molecular Techniques and Advanced Cell Biology to expand my skills and knowledge in molecular biology. This experience helped me secure my position as a research technician immediately after graduation.
8. What do you hope your work will contribute to the understanding of CLIDE (contact lens-induced dry eye)?
   Dry eye disease is a global problem and the continuous exploration of novel contact lens materials is a necessity. Therefore, the development of a novel protocol to assess the ocular surface has the significant potential to guide the development and testing of novel contact lens materials or other preventive strategies for high myopes experiencing CLIDE symptoms. The purpose of my research is to develop a protocol to assess the ocular surface and identify reliable parameters that will help with the assessment of CLIDE.
9. What was a major obstacle you were able to overcome to perform your job?
   A major obstacle that many of us experienced was the COVID-19 pandemic. This stopped my research in March 2020 for 2-3 months. However, I was the first student within my OD/MS class cohort to continue my research in the vision science laboratory during the summer of 2020. I was able to show my work as a poster presentation at the 2020 American Academy of Optometry Conference later that year.
10. How has your recent award from the American Academy of Optometry Foundation energized your work in optometry?
    The 2021 Joe and Janet Barr Early Career Cornea and Contact Lens Research Award has provided me with research project seed funding and allowed me to continue my research without financial burdens. My work has resulted in an accepted abstract for the 2022 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Conference, and I am planning on submitting to the 2022 American Academy of Optometry Conference later this year.