Dr Emily Charlesworth

Emily is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow and GOC-registered optometrist. She graduated with a First-Class Honours in Optometry and subsequently a PhD from the University of Bradford. Her areas of expertise include cataract and cataract surgery, refractive stability, target refraction, and the development of evidence-based guidelines.

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Background

Emily graduated from the University of Bradford with a First-Class Honours in Optometry and was awarded several undergraduate prizes including the Brenda Isaac Prize, the Johnson and Johnson Prize, the Bausch and Lomb Prize, and the Butterworth-Heinemann Prize.

After completing her pre-registration period and becoming a GOC-registered optometrist, she completed her PhD at the University of Bradford titled “The Refractive Management of Cataract Surgery Patients” involving the development of evidence-based refractive management guidelines developed between optometry and ophthalmology. She gained specialist research skills in systematic review and meta-analysis, the Delphi technique and inductive content analysis.

During her PhD, Emily published several peer-reviewed articles and participated in research conferences, earning a Best Early Career Researcher Oral Presentation prize and an Honorary Mention. She was recently awarded Associate Fellowship status from the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Currently, Emily is working as Post Doctoral Research Fellow, continuing her work to deliver research outcomes with real impact for patients’ eye health and eye care services. She will be focusing on virtual clinic evaluation, the patient perspective and experience, the education of healthcare professionals, and visual impairment.

Research interests

• Cataract
• Cataract surgery
• Refractive errors
• Ageing and vision
• Public health
• Evidence based practice
• Guideline development

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, “The refractive management of cataract surgery patients,” University of Bradford
• Associate Fellow, The Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
• MCOptom
• BSc (Hons) Optometry, University of Bradford

Memberships, editorial boards

• Member, The College of Optometrists
• Member, The Association of Optometrists
• Member, The General Optical Council
• Member, Women in Vision UK
• Associate Fellow, The Higher Education Academy

Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange

• The American Academy of Optometry Travel Grant (British Chapter), 2021, £1,000
• The College of Optometrists Undergraduate Scholarship, 2015, £2,000
• The College of Optometrists Undergraduate Scholarship, 2014, £2,000

Selected recent publications

Charlesworth, E., Ursell, P., Ho, K. C., Keay, L., Elliott, D. B. (2023) 'Developing refractive management recommendations for patients undergoing cataract surgery: A Delphi Study', Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 43(1), pp. 150-159.

Charlesworth, E., Alderson, A. J., Fylan, F., Armstrong, R. A., Chandra, A., Elliott, D. B. (2022) 'Investigating target refraction advice provided to cataract surgery patients by UK optometrists and ophthalmologists', Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 42(3), pp. 440-453.

Ho, K. C., Elliott, D. B., Charlesworth, E., Gyawali, R., Keay, L. (2022) 'Feasibility of implementing recommendations to reduce fall risk in older people: a Delphi study', Optometry and Vision Science, 99(1), pp. 18-23.

Charlesworth, E., Alderson, A. J., de Juan, V., Elliott, D. B. (2020) 'When is refraction stable following routine cataract surgery? A systematic review and meta-analysis', Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 40(5), pp. 531-9. Wiley Top Cited article recognition 2020-2021.

Armstrong, D., Charlesworth, E., Alderson, A. J., Elliott, D. B. (2016) 'Is there a link between dizziness and vision? A systematic review', Ophthamlic and Physiological Optics, 36(4), pp. 477-86.

Charlesworth, E. (2019) 'Optimizing suboptimal results following cataract surgery – refractive and non-refractive management (Thieme Medical Publishers, 2019)', Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 39, pp. 392-393. (Book review)

Harvey, B., Charlesworth, E. (2019) 'Better cataract recovery', Optician, 8, 218221-1.

Recent presentations and conferences

Developing refractive management recommendations for patients undergoing cataract surgery: A Delphi Study – oral presentation at 100% Optical, London, UK, February 2023 (invited talk).

Developing refractive management recommendations for patients undergoing cataract surgery: A Delphi Study – oral presentation at the Women in Vision UK Winter Meeting, London, UK, December 2022.

Developing refractive management recommendations for patients undergoing cataract surgery: A Delphi Study – oral presentation at the British Congress of Optometry and Vision Science (BCOVS), Aston University, UK, September 2022. Honourable mention prize.

Investigating target refraction advice that optometrists and ophthlamologists give to cataract surgery patients – poster presentation at the American Academy of Optometry, Boston, USA, November 2021. British Chapter of the American Academy of Optometry travel grant winner.

Investigating patients with longer refractive stability times following cataract surgery – oral presentation at BCOVS, Aston University, UK, September 2021.

Investigating target refraction advice that optometrists and ophthlamologists give to cataract surgery patients – oral presentation at the Postgraduate Symposium, University of Bradford (UoB), UK, September 2021. Bronze place oral presentation prize.

Investigating the refractive advice given by optometrists to cataract surgery patients – oral presentation at BCOVS, Aston University, UK, September 2020. Best early career researcher: oral presentation prize.

Investigating optometrists pre- and post-operative refraction advice given to cataract surgery patients – oral presentation at the Postgradute symposium, UoB, UK, September 2020.

Ho, K. C., Elliott, D. B., Charlesworth, E., Gyawali, R. and Keay, L. (2020) 'A Delphi Consensus study to determine the feasibility of implementing guidelines for refractive management of older patients at risk of falls', Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (ARVO abstract), 61, pp. 3066-3066.

When is refraction stable following routine cataract surgery? A systematic review and meta-analysis – poster presentation at BCOVS, The University of Manchester, UK, September 2019.

When is refraction stable following routine cataract surgery? A systematic review and meta-analysis – oral presentation at the Postgraduate symposium, UoB, UK, September 2019.

Media experience

Emily was invited to talk on a special edition of the College of Optometrists Podcast about her research investigating the advice optometrists give to their patients on target refraction when discussing cataract surgery.