Professor “surprised humbled and profoundly honoured” to be appointed OBE

A professor at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) has been named in the King’s New Year’s honours list for services to optometry and preventing blindness.

Professor Shahina Pardhan, director of ARU’s Vision and Eye Research Institute, received the title of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Pardhan has published more than 200 research papers on diabetic retinopathy, low vision, dual sensory loss, auditory cues in vision impairment, ageing, and visual short-term memory.

Her research on reducing the risk of blindness due to diabetes has had an impact from the UK to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, and Pakistan.

Commenting on the recognition, Pardhan said: “I am surprised, humbled and profoundly honoured.”

“My passion is to reduce the risk and impact of blindness. This honour only strengthens my commitment to continue with this work,” she said.

“Blindness due to eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy is preventable if caught in time, and our work has made a difference to people’s lives not just in the UK but in other parts of the world,” Pardhan said, adding: “My sincere thanks to everyone who has worked with me over the years.”

My passion is to reduce the risk and impact of blindness. This honour only strengthens my commitment to continue with this work

Pardhan became the UK’s first female professor of optometry in 2001. Having graduated with a first-class honours and awarded Best Student Prize from the University of Bradford, Pardhan was supported by a PhD scholarship from the College of Optometrists.

The professor became director of ARU’s Vision and Eye Research Institute in 2009, which has since received ‘world-leading’ status through its publications and impact.

Professor Roderick Watkins, vice chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University, shared his “warmest congratulations” to Professor Pardhan, “who has dedicated her career to preventing sight loss across the globe.”

“This recognition is testament to the difference her work has made in communities worldwide over the years, and demonstrates the impact of ARU’s research on people’s lives,” he said.

A career-long impact

Throughout her career, Pardhan has received several awards including an Asian Women of Achievement Award in 2001, and the Asian Jewel Award in healthcare and education.

In 2019, Pardhan was named in the Ophthalmologist Power List as a champion of change and in 2022 she was named in the top 2% of scientists in the world by Stanford University, also receiving the Arthur Bennett Prize from the College of Optometrists for outstanding international research for her work on the global impact of diabetic retinopathy in eye health and vision.

In 2023, Pardhan received an Honorary Doctor of Health award from her alma mater, the University of Bradford, and last year, Pardhan was awarded a silver medal by the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers. She was also recently made a Life Fellow by the College of Optometrists.