Dr Ahalya Subramanian

Overview

Ahalya is a registered optometrist and currently a senior lecturer at City, University of London . Since joining City in 2006 she has held several senior roles including most recently the role of divisional lead for Optometry from 2016-2019. Ahalya has a specialist interest in visual impairment and runs the visual impairment clinic at City University London.

Ahalya studied at the Elite School of Optometry in Chennai India where she gained a first class degree in 1998. She subsequently worked at the Elite School of Optometry as a lecturer dividing her time between clinical work, teaching and doing research. In 2000 she came to the UK to take up a position as a research assistant at the University of Manchester and during this period completed a PhD in visual impairment under the guidance of Professor Christine Dickinson. She moved to Anglia Ruskin University in 2004 and worked as a research fellow investigating reaching in grasping in visually impaired people.

In early 2006 she passed the Non-EEA exams at first attempt and registered with the General Optical Council. Later that year she joined City University London where she has worked as a Lecturer and Programme Director for the undergraduate optometry course. She was promoted to a senior lecturer in 2010. Her main area of work has been on improving the quality of life of visually impaired people and their caregivers with particular emphasis on improving reading ability and the use of technology.

Qualifications

1. Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Higher Education Academy, United Kingdom, Oct 2018
2. PhD, University of Manchester, United Kingdom, Nov 2000 – Feb 2004
3. BS, Elite School of Optometry, India, Sep 1994 – Aug 1998
4. Fellow of the College of Optometrists, College of Optometrists, United Kingdom

Employment

1. Divisional Lead, City, Univesrity of London, Sep 2016 – Dec 2019
2. Senior Lecturer, City University London, Aug 2010 – present
3. Lecturer, City University London, May 2006 – Jul 2010

Memberships of professional organisations

1. 2006: General Optical Council
2. Fellow of the College of Optometrists, College of Optometrists
3. Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, Higher Education Authority

Languages

Hindi (can read, write, speak and understand spoken).

Teaching

Modules taught on

Undergraduate Modules
OV2004 Clinical Skills (lab supervisor)
OV3021 Research Methods and Special Study (dissertation supervisor)
OV3022 Binocular Vision, Pediatrics & Visual Impairment (visual impairment module coordinator and clinic lead)
OV3025 Clinical and professional practice (module lead)

Foundation Degree Modules
OV2219 Visual Optics and Low Vision (low vision module coordinator)

Postgraduate Modules
OVM013 Visual Impairment (module lead)
APM002 - research and evidence based practice (dissertation supervisor)

Research overview

Ahalya's current research has concentrated on the following themes

- Improving reading ability in people who are visually impaired specifically people who suffer from Age Related Macular Degeneration (Eccentric Viewing) and have visual field loss due to stroke.  

- Improving the quality of low vision services for visually impaired people in the United Kingdom

- How colour vision is affected in people with Diabetic Mellitus with no retinopathy and different grades of retinopathy and how treatment may influence changes in colour vision

- Screening for visual impairment in children

Apart from the themes mentioned above her research over the past five years has looked at quality of life in visually impaired adults and children, reaching and grasping behaviour in visually impaired adults and repeatability of the MNREAD reading charts in visually impaired and normally sighted adults. She has also been involved in investigating how fixation disparity is used as a test of binocular vision in optometry clinics.

Research areas

- Reading in people who are visually impaired
- Quality of life of visually impaired people
- Colour vision in Diabetic Retinopathy
- Eye screening services for children in the United Kingdom

Grants

- 2012-2014: Macular Disease Society (with Christine Dickinson (PI) and Robert Harper)- Evaluating the Revision programme

- 2011: College of Optometrists: Vertical Reading in people with homonymous hemianopia

- 2009-2011: RNIB (with Miriam Conway):The role of the Eye Care Liaison Officer

- 2009: Royal Society Vertical Reading in normally sighted adults

Research centres

- Optometry and Visual Sciences: Measurement Techniques in Clinical Optics

Principal collaborators

- Prof John Barbur, City University London, UK
- Prof Dave Edgar, City University London, UK
- Dr Miriam Conway, City University London, UK
- Prof Gordon Legge, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
- Prof Shahina Pardhan, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
- Prof Christine Dickinson, University of Manchester, UK
- Dr Robert Harper, University of Manchester, UK
- Prof Gordon Plant, UCL, UK
- Dr Shoba Sivaprasad, Kings College London, UK

Research students

Publications by category