Rune Brautaset

Since 2003, Rune Brautaset has worked hard to build optometric research at Karolinska Institutet (KI). Originally from Norway, he nonetheless became the first working optometrist with a PhD at a Swedish University. Here, he began his research career with a deep-dive study of binocular vision (“Why do we see a picture with two eyes”).

Rune took his doctorate in optometry and neuroscience at Manchester University, where he was inspired by the interdisciplinary and vibrant research environment in the field. Naturally, he wanted to help that grow at KI, when he began teaching in 2000.

Already three years later, he took over as head of the unit for the optometry program and became program director shortly after. Today, he is head of the division of eye and vision and in charge of undergraduate education at the clinical neuroscience department. Even outside the walls of KI, Rune keeps up his professional dedication as president of the Swedish Optometry Association. He has published (or co-published) over 80 academic articles.

On the programme
Rune will be part of a panel discussing how to keep up now the optometry profession is changing, together with Tony Pansell, Eva Sturk Franzén, Karim Makdoumi, Oskar Johansson, and Erik Ryderberg. You can read more on the programme page.