Dr Prakash Paudel

Dr Prakash Paudel

Adjunct Senior Lecturer

BOptom, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

PhD, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

Medicine & Health
School of Optometry and Vision Science

Dr Paudel is an adjunct senior lecturer in the School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS) at the University of New South Wales, and work as a research and evaluation officer in the Brien Holden Foundation (BHF), Sydney, Australia. His academic and research experience involves leading and managing public health eye care research and epidemiological study in the Asia Pacific region; teaching optometry and vision science courses; supervising undergraduate research projects and conducting workshops in research design and methodology to the eye care professionals.

He received his PhD degree in Optometry and Vision Science conducting a public health service research from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 2012. He is a public health optometrist and a researcher with a specific interest in epidemiology and health services research. He is one of the first graduates of Bachelor of Optometry, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, with optometry teaching and research experience in the Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He delivered optometry course lectures in BP Koirala Lions Centre for Ophthalmic Studies at the Tribhuvan University until 2008. 

He started research career joining Brien Holden Vision Institute Foundation, Australia (formerly known as ICEE) as a part-time research assistant in 2008 and a full-time research officer since 2011. He also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in School of Population Health at UNSW in 2015-2016 for the ARC Discovery project. 

He has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research and has interest in broader areas of health service research, epidemiology of vision impairment and refractive error, health literacy, school and community-based health intervention/ promotion, optometry and refraction training & evaluation, vision-specific quality of life and general public health research, and infectious disease,. Other public health research interest areas are health barriers, utilisation, and compliance studies, situational analysis and exploratory studies, child eye health, and contact lens, low vision, binocular vision related clinical studies.

He has completed several research projects of BHF as a principal investigator and co-investigator for eye health service and epidemiology researches in Cambodia, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, and Vietnam. He has been successful in several research grant applications and has significantly contributed to past LCIF SightFirst-funded research projects (3-D Spectacles, Willingness to Pay, School Eye Health, Ocular morbidity) managed by BHF. He is also a PI of new LCIF SightFirst research project (Optical Workshop Model) in Pakistan and other eye health projects of BHF.


Dr Paudel has published over 25 peer-reviewed scientific papers in prestigious international journals, and he is also one of main authors on a book chapter about refractive error and school eye health in Southeast Asia. Dr Paudel is a voluntary anonymous reviewer for more than a dozen peer-review high-impact factor scientific journals. He also has demonstrated good skill in presenting research findings in various national/ international optometry and ophthalmology conferences.

  • Book Chapters | 2021
    Philip K; Paudel P; Vincent J; Marmamula S; Fricke T; Sankaridurg P, 2021, 'Refractive Error and School Eye Health', in South-East Asia Eye Health, Springer Singapore, pp. 145 - 168, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3787-2_10
    Book Chapters | 2021
    Philip K; Paudel P; Vincent J; Marmamula S; Fricke T; Sankaridurg P, 2021, 'Refractive error and school eye health', in South-East Asia Eye Health: Systems, Practices, and Challenges, pp. 145 - 168, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/9789811637872_10
  • Journal articles | 2023
    Bist J; Kandel H; Paudel N; Kaphle D; Gyawali R; Marasini S; Adhikary R; Paudel P, 2023, 'Prevalence of refractive errors in Nepalese children and adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis', Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 106, pp. 119 - 132, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08164622.2022.2153582
    Journal articles | 2023
    Fricke TR; Keay L; Resnikoff S; Tahhan N; Koumbo O; Paudel P; Ayton LN; Britten-Jones AC; Kweon S; Li JCH; Lee L; Wagner P; Weng R; Beranger B; Olivier J, 2023, 'Improving population-level refractive error monitoring via mixture distributions', Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 43, pp. 445 - 453, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/opo.13105
    Journal articles | 2022
    Paudel P; Kovai V; Burnett A; Naduvilath T; Ho SM; Fricke T; Giap NV, 2022, 'Effects of a community-based health education intervention on eye health literacy of adults in Vietnam', International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 60, pp. 149 - 163, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2021.1905028
    Journal articles | 2021
    Burnett A; Paudel P; Massie J; Kong N; Kunthea E; Thomas V; Fricke TR; Lee L, 2021, 'Parents' willingness to pay for children's spectacles in Cambodia', BMJ Open Ophthalmology, 6, pp. e000654, http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2020-000654
    Journal articles | 2021
    Sanjeev B, 2021, 'Visual Status among Nepalese Civilian Pilots', Open Access Journal of Ophthalmology, 6, pp. 1 - 5, http://dx.doi.org/10.23880/oajo-16000217
    Journal articles | 2020
    Lee L; Burnett AM; Panos JG; Paudel P; Keys D; Ansari HM; Yu M, 2020, '3-D printed spectacles: potential, challenges and the future', Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 103, pp. 590 - 596, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cxo.13042
    Journal articles | 2019
    Kaphle D; Kandel H; Paudel P; Naidoo K, 2019, 'Profile of Nepalese optometrists and their perspectives about a new optometry school', African Vision and Eye Health, 78, http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/aveh.v78i1.476
    Journal articles | 2019
    Kaphle D; Kandel H; Paudel P, 2019, 'Optometry in nepalese context: The profession beyond providing refraction services', Journal of the Nepal Medical Association, 57, pp. 59 - 63, http://dx.doi.org/10.31729/jnma.3523
    Journal articles | 2019
    Paudel P; Yen PT; Kovai V; Naduvilath T; Ho SM; Giap NV; Holden BA, 2019, 'Effect of school eye health promotion on children's eye health literacy in Vietnam', Health Promotion International, 34, pp. 113 - 122, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax065
    Journal articles | 2018
    Paudel P; Macintyre CR; Zwar N; Seale H; Worth H; Sheikh M; Heywood AE, 2018, 'Risk activities and pre-travel health seeking practices of notified cases of imported infectious diseases in Australia (vol 24, pg 1, 2017)', JOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, 25, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jtm/tay089
    Journal articles | 2017
    Kpozehouen E; Heywood AE; Kay M; Smith M; Paudel P; Sheikh M; MacIntyre CR, 2017, 'Improving access to immunisation for migrants and refugees: recommendations from a stakeholder workshop', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 41, pp. 118 - 120, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.12602
    Journal articles | 2017
    Paudel P; Raina C; Zwar N; Seale H; Worth H; Sheikh M; Heywood AE, 2017, 'Risk activities and pre-travel health seeking practices of notified cases of imported infectious diseases in Australia', Journal of travel medicine, 24, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jtm/tax044
    Journal articles | 2016
    Paudel P; Kovai V; Naduvilath T; Phuong HT; Ho SM; Giap NV, 2016, 'Validity of Teacher-Based Vision Screening and Factors Associated with the Accuracy of Vision Screening in Vietnamese Children', Ophthalmic Epidemiology, pp. 1 - 6, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2015.1082602
    Journal articles | 2016
    Paudel P; Naduvilath T; Kovai V; Phuong HT; Ho SM; Wilson D, 2016, 'Health literacy of adult Vietnamese population in relation to common eye conditions and factors for not seeking an eye examination', Journal of Eye Science, 1, pp. 47 - 47, http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jes.2016.09.18
    Journal articles | 2015
    Burnett A; Yu M; Paudel P; Naduvilath T; Fricke TR; Hani Y; Garap J, 2015, 'Perceptions of Eye Health and Eye Health Services among Adults Attending Outreach Eye Care Clinics in Papua New Guinea', Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 22, pp. 361 - 369, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2015.1057604
    Journal articles | 2015
    Paudel P; Cronjé S; Oconnor PM; Rao GN; Holden BA, 2015, 'Clinical Competency of 1-Year Trained Vision Technicians in Andhra Pradesh, India', Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 22, pp. 409 - 416, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2015.1082605
    Journal articles | 2015
    Paudel P; Khadka J; Burnett A; Hani Y; Naduvilath T; Fricke TR, 2015, 'Papua New Guinea vision-specific quality of life questionnaire: A new patient-reported outcome instrument to assess the impact of impaired vision', Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 43, pp. 202 - 213, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ceo.12413
    Journal articles | 2014
    Kovai V; Prasadarao BVM; Paudel P; Stapleton F; Wilson D, 2014, 'Reasons for refusing cataract surgery in illiterate individuals in a tribal area of Andhra Pradesh, India', Ophthalmic Epidemiology, 21, pp. 144 - 152, http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/09286586.2014.903980
    Journal articles | 2014
    Panthi S; Paudel P; Chaudhary M; Sapkota K; Shah DN, 2014, 'Microbial contamination of contact lens care accessories and compliance with care regimens in Nepal', Contact Lens and Anterior Eye, 37, pp. 2 - 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clae.2013.07.001
    Journal articles | 2014
    Paudel P; Cronjé S; O'Connor PM; Rao GN; Holden BA, 2014, 'Selection considerations when using a 'standard optometrist' to evaluate clinical performance of other eye-care personnel', Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 97, pp. 426 - 432, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cxo.12173
    Journal articles | 2014
    Paudel P; Ramson P; Naduvilath T; Wilson D; Phuong HT; Ho SM; Giap NV, 2014, 'Prevalence of vision impairment and refractive error in school children in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Vietnam', Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ceo.12273
    Journal articles | 2014
    Paudel P; Ramson P; Naduvilath T; Wilson D; Phuong HT; Ho SM; Giap NV, 2014, 'Prevalence of vision impairment and refractive error in school children in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, Vietnam', Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, 42, pp. 217 - 226, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ceo.12273
    Journal articles | 2012
    De Souza N; Cui Y; Looi S; Paudel P; Shinde L; Kumar K; Berwal R; Wadhwa R; Daniel V; Flanagan J; Holden B, 2012, 'The role of optometrists in India: An integral part of an eye health team', Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, 60, pp. 401 - 405, http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0301-4738.100534
    Journal articles | 2008
    Shrestha JB; Paudel P; Karmacharya PC, 2008, 'Spontaneous extrusion of subconjunctival cysticercous cyst: a case report.', Nepal Medical College journal : NMCJ, 10, pp. 139 - 140
    Journal articles | 2007
    Paudel P; Khadka J; Sharma AK; Shakya S; Shrestha JK; Shah DN, 2007, 'Increase use of contact lenses for optical correction', Journal of Institute of Medicine, 28, http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/joim.v28i1.429
    Journal articles | 2006
    Sapkota K; Koirala S; Shakya S; Chaudhary M; Paudel P, 2006, 'Visual status of Nepalese national football and cricket players.', Nepal Medical College journal : NMCJ, 8, pp. 280 - 283
    Journal articles | 2005
    Paudel P; Khadka J; Sharma AK, 2005, 'Profile of a low vision population', International Congress Series, 1282, pp. 252 - 256, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ics.2005.05.191

LCIF research grants 2021/2023 - Ocular Morbidity study and Optical Workshop Model

LCIF SightFirst-funded research projects (3-D Spectacles, Willingness to Pay, School Eye Health, Ocular morbidity) including ongoing Optical Workshop Model in Pakistan. Other research grant applications (Academic Vision Centre and Children eye projects) on process.