Secretariat

Justine Zhang is a visiting research fellow at LSHTM and an ophthalmology registrar in London, UK. She undertook her medical school training at Imperial College London, foundation doctor training in Oxford, and has held an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in Manchester. She has completed an MSc in Epidemiology at LSHTM. For the Commission, Justine led a scoping review investigating the impact of eye health on the Sustainable Development Goals, and contributed to a range of other reviews and equity-focused analyses.

Helen Burn is a UK based ophthalmologist and recent graduate of the LSHTM Public Health for Eye Care MSc. She combines her clinical work with continued research in global eye health, with a particular focus on equity and access to eye care services. She was lead researcher on the scoping review investigating eye care service delivery for Indigenous peoples in high-income countries, as well as a co-author on several other reviews and analyses included in the Commission.

Miho Yoshizaki is a Public Health Specialist Registrar and contributed to the Lancet Commission while she was on a placement at LSHTM. She led a scoping review investigating interventions to improve quality of cataract services and contributed to several other reviews. She has a background in pharmacy, and holds a Masters of Public Health. She has a strong interest in the equity and quality of the health system.

Tess Bright is an Assistant Professor with the International Centre for Evidence in Disability at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She received her PhD and MSc Public Health from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Her work focusses on the epidemiology of hearing impairment in low and middle income countries. For the Commission, Tess led the review on Dual Sensory Impairment.

Lama Assi received her medical degree from the American University of Beirut and is currently completing the MPH program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her interests include sensory loss and health services research, and clinical and preventive ophthalmology. For the Commission, Lama led the umbrella review on eye health and quality of life while she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Wilmer Eye Institute.

Helen Nguyen has a background in vision science, and has worked in various research institutes in Sydney, Australia, including The George Institute for Global Health, The University of New South Wales, and the Westmead Institute for Medical Research. She has been involved in both clinical and public health research projects centred on vision and healthy ageing. For the Commission, Helen conducted the systematic review of evidence on vision and road traffic injuries.

Lisa Hamm is a Rutherford postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Auckland. She received her MSc from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and her PhD from the University of Auckland in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Her primary interests are in visual neuroscience and equitable access to eye care. For the Commission, Lisa led the review on interventions to improve access to eye care for non-dominant, non-indigenous ethnic groups.

Thomas is a Principal Research Associate in health economics at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. His research is focused on the methods and application of health technology assessment (HTA). He holds a PhD from UCL in the UK and conducted postdoctoral research at Peking University, China. For the Commission, Thomas contributed to the range of economic analyses.

Aryati Yashadhana is a Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales. Her research focuses on the analysis of socioeconomic, gendered, and racialised dimensions of access to health systems and services, and how these shape causal pathways to eye health outcomes among Indigenous and non-dominant populations. Aryati contributed to several publications which informed the Commission, particularly focused on gender parity and ethnic diversity in global eye health leadership.

Ada Aghaji is a paediatric and public health ophthalmologist at the University of Nigeria and a Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholar at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The focus of Ada’s research is on increasing access to eye care in underserved communities. For the Commission, Ada contributed as a team member to several reviews and analyses.

Sare Safi received her PhD in Optometry from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU), Iran. She is the Director of Research at the Ophthalmic Research Center of SBMU and is also an Executive Editor of the Journal of Ophthalmic and Vision Research. Sare’s main interests include public health ophthalmology, ophthalmic epidemiology, evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines and optometry research. Sare was a team member on several analyses that informed the Commission.

Gatera Fiston Kitema is a an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Rwanda and a member of the Technical Working group for Eye Health at the Ministry of Health in Rwanda. He obtained his MSc in Public Health for Eye Care from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Fiston has a particular interest in Eye Health, Disability, and Interprofessional education. He was a team member on several analyses that informed the Commission.

Shaffi Mdala is an ophthalmologist at the College of Medicine, University of Malawi and is a fellow of the International Council of Ophthalmology. He obtained an MSc in Public Health for Eye Care from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and has interests in clinical trials, implementation research and clinical ophthalmology. Shaffi was a team member on several reviews and analyses that informed the Commission.

Saad is an Emergency Medicine middle grade registrar with a Masters in Health Policy, Planning and Finance from LSE/LSHTM. His special interest is in network analysis and understanding complex health systems. Saad helped to develop bibliometric and network analyses for the Commission.

David Macleod is a statistician in the International Statistics & Epidemiology Group at LSHTM. David collaborates on numerous studies with the International Centre for Eye Health at LSHTM, providing support in the design and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies in eye health. David provided statistical support to analyses included in the Commission.

Iris Gordon, BA, MSc, is an information specialist for Cochrane Eyes and Vision based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has provided literature searching support for the World Health Organization, Sightsavers, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Vision Impact Institute, The College of Ophthalmology of Eastern Central and Southern Africa (COECSA) and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Iris conducted the searches for the systematic and scoping reviews that informed the Commission.

Monica Jong is a lecturer at the University of Canberra, the Executive Director of the International Myopia Institute and the Secretary of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness’ (IAPB) Refractive Error Working Group. Dr Jong’s research interests include refractive error development, and treatments to slow myopia progression. She has authored numerous peer reviewed publications, contributed to the first WHO report on the Impact of Myopia and High Myopia, co-developed the Brien Holden Vision Institute myopia management program, and contributed to IAPB position papers on refractive error. For the Commission, Dr Jong contributed to the summary of refractive error epidemiology.