Shahina Pardhan

Shahina Pardhan is the Director of the Vision and Eye Research Unit and the Anglia Ruskin University School of Medicine. She was the first woman to be appointed Professor of Optometry in the United Kingdom.

Early life and education Pardhan was born in Tanzania and moved to Yorkshire when she was 18 years old. Pardhan graduated from the University of Bradford in 1984. She was awarded the Yorkshire Optical Society's Best Student Prize. In 1993 she was the first woman to be appointed Professor of Optometry and first Asian woman to become Professor of any discipline in the UK. Pardhan joined Anglia Ruskin University as a Professor in 2001. In 2005 she was awarded the Asian Jewel Award. In 2009 Pardhan was appointed Director of the Vision and Eye Research Institute. Her research focuses on low vision and the difficulties that people suffering with low vision face, including mobility and recreational activities.

She was an invited speaker at the Aspian Pacific Optometry Congree in Kuala Lumpur in 2015. She led a joint conference with Southern University of Science and Technology to discuss audio and visual impairment.

Awards and honours In 2015, Pardhan was awarded the Vice Chancellor's award for strategic leadership.