Dr Ving Fai Chan is a Malaysian Optometrist who lectures (Global Eye Health) at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). He completed his master’s degree from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Doctorate in Optometry from the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN).
Having lived and worked in Africa for 10 years, he works to address the persistent grass-root level barriers towards successful eyecare initiatives in low- and middle-income countries. His work focuses on designing and testing innovative and pragmatic approaches to address eye health challenges in resource-constrained countries. He contributed to the establishment of the first School of Optometry in Eritrea, where he lived for 3 years. He then worked as the Research Manager for an international eyecare NGO, primarily studying the impact of spectacle corrections on different populations in Africa to assist advocacy efforts.
In addition to his role at QUB, he is an Honorary Lecturer at UKZN (South Africa), the Research Adviser of the Tanzanian Optometry Association and a member of the WHO Primary Eye Care Intervention Technical Working Group. His current major research studies are in South Africa, Zanzibar, Nigeria, India and China.