Vice President
Melissa Zarn Urankar is an Assistant Professor of Optometry at Southern College of Optometry (SCO). She attained a BS in Engineering Science and Mechanics from Virginia Tech and an OD from Illinois College of Optometry. After completing residency training in Vision Therapy, Rehabilitation, and Pediatrics at Pacific University College of Optometry, she worked at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center where she helped to establish Optometry and Vision Therapy services in the multidisciplinary traumatic brain injury clinic.
Dr. Zarn evaluates and manages patients with traumatic and acquired brain injuries (TBI/ABI) at the SCO clinics as well as at local rehabilitation hospitals. She has been a member of NORA since 2008 and is working toward her FNORA. She is the faculty advisor for SCO’s Student NORA Chapter and has coordinated the NORA poster session during the annual meeting since 2012. She has presented workshops on evaluating and managing TBI/ABI at the American Academy of Optometry meetings since 2015. At SCO, she is the Director of Interprofessional Education (IPE). She is the lead instructor for the Interprofessional Education series and is engaged in curriculum development to enhance IPE and collaborative practice opportunities for students at SCO. Through this work she has helped create a network of health professions educators in the Memphis, TN area who are developing unique opportunities in health professions education. She is a member and founding Chair of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) IPE and Collaborative Practice (IPECP) Special Interest Group, Co-Chair of Tennessee Interprofessional Practice and Education Consortium’s (TIPEC’s) Membership and Communications Working Group, and previous Co-Chair of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative Program Committee’s Mentoring Program Workgroup.