Kelly Nichols OD, MPH, PhD

Kelly Nichols is the Dean of the School of Optometry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She received her Doctor of Optometry degree from UC Berkeley, followed by a residency in ocular disease at Denver Omni. She completed her MPH and PhD at Ohio State University.  

Professor Nichols serves as a medical advisor to the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation (SSF), is an executive board member for the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society (TFOS), a board member of the Ocular Surface Society of Optometry and sits on editorial boards for The Ocular Surface, Advanced Ocular Care, and Optometry and Vision Science. She is also a reviewer for the National Institute of Health study section and other peer-reviewed journals, and chaired the TFOS International Meibomian Gland Workshop. 

Her awards include the AOF Ezell Fellowship and the Borish Award from the American Academy of Optometry, and recently the Lifetime Achievement award from TFOS.