The Global Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Asma's work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
About Asma
About Asma
Asma is a Lecturer in Optometry at the University of Plymouth with clinical and research interests in paediatric optometry and improving access to eye care for people with learning disabilities.
Asma qualified as an optometrist from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2007 and has worked in both private practice and university clinical settings. She subsequently completed her PhD at Cardiff University in 2019 before joining the University of Plymouth as a Lecturer in Optometry in April 2020. She became fully registered with the General Optical Council in the UK in February 2026.
Asma’s clinical interests centre on paediatric optometry and the provision of accessible, person-centred eye care for people with learning disabilities. She is Lead Clinician for the University of Plymouth’s new Special Assessment Clinic, which has been developed to provide adapted eye examinations for people with learning disabilities who may find aspects of a conventional eye examination challenging. Her interests in this area include adapting clinical techniques and communication to individual patient needs and reducing barriers to accessing high-quality eye care.
Her developing research interests are closely linked to her clinical practice and focus on improving the assessment and delivery of eye care for children and people with learning disabilities. In particular, she is interested in ocular imaging within these populations, including imaging and assessment of the optic nerve head, and how clinical techniques and technologies can be adapted to improve the accessibility and quality of eye care.
At the University of Plymouth, Asma teaches across the undergraduate Optometry programme, including Specialist Optometry Practice for second-year students. Her teaching includes clinical optometry, with particular interests in paediatric eye care, contact lenses and adapting clinical examination approaches to meet individual patient needs.
Through her clinical, teaching and research activity, Asma is particularly interested in making eye care more accessible to people who may not be well served by conventional approaches to optometric assessment, and in developing practical approaches that enable clinicians to provide effective, individualised eye care.
Contact Asma
InterCity Place, Plymouth Railway Station, North Road East,, Plymouth, PL4 6AB
+44 1752 588881
asma.zahidi@plymouth.ac.uk
