Jennifer Craig (academic)

Jennifer P. Craig is a Scottish–New Zealand academic optometrist, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in ocular surface disease.

Academic career
Craig completed Bachelor of Science in optometry at Glasgow Caledonian University, followed by a Master of Science in cataract and refractive surgery at the University of Ulster. She returned to the Glasgow Caledonian University to complete a PhD titled Tear physiology in the normal and dry eye in 1995, supervised by Professor Alan Tomlinson. Craig lectured at the University of Dundee, before joining the faculty of the University of Auckland in New Zealand, rising to full professor in the ophthalmology department, where she leads the Ocular Surface Laboratory.

Craig's research focuses on dry eye disease, and meibomian gland dysfunction, and tear film dysfunction, and covers diagnosis, clinical trials, treatment and novel therapeutics. Craig has held visiting fellowships to Aston University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Montreal, and Wenzhou Medical University in China. She has been chair or vice-chair of a number of Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society working groups, and co-authored a book published by Elsevier, The Tear Film.

Honours and awards
Craig was awarded a Life Fellowship of the College of Optometrists in 2019, for "her contribution to the development of the profession through teaching and education, especially in the area of ocular surface disease". Craig was appointed as a Global Ambassador for the British Contact Lens Association in 2021. She has been recognised as one of the top 60 optometry researchers in the world.