I am a Malaysian-trained optometrist and currently a lecturer in Gobal Eye Health at the Centre for Public Health, Queen's University Belfast. My work focuses on exploring innovative and creative ways in which low-cost vision care improves human lives in low-and middle-income countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. My research works to understand how social and cultural barriers hinder people living in poverty from accessing services and to co-create interventions that can address these issues, particularly among children and women. One of such interventions is using arts as a medium to deliver eye health education strategy to improve awareness among the community and thus, increase eye health services uptake. These arts-based media include comical booklets (Vision Champion project), traditional and contemporary music (Zanzibar Arts for Children's Eyesight, ZANZI-ACE project) and free hand animation plus voice drama (African Creativity for Eyesight, ACE project). My publications include 54 peer-reviewed publications (including in Lancet Global Health, JAMA Ophthalmology, Ophthalmology, British Journal Ophthalmology, BMJ Global Health etc), two book chapters and a book.  I was awarded Fellow of the European Council of Optometry and Optics and received the Highest Honour from the Ministry of Health, Zanzibar in recognition of my contribution to the elimination of avoidable blindness in low-and middle-income countries.

Link to all projects on MAD4VISION website  https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/mad4vision/

Zanzibar – July 2022, taken with legendary musician Mariam Hamdani,