Arathy Kartha is an Assistant Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry. She completed her PhD in pediatric vision rehabilitation from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. During her PhD, she worked on the effect of prolonged reading on reading performance and visual functions in students with low vision using a combination of psychophysical tests and real-world reading tasks. Prior to her PhD, she worked as a low vision optometrist at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India. Following her PhD she moved to Syracuse, NY where she was working with the research team at the VA in developing research protocols to assess visual functions and light sensitivity in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury. She was then a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Dagnelie’s lab, where she worked on visual rehabilitation of people with ultra low vision and prosthetic vision.

Her research interests include studying visual functions and functional vision in people with visual impairment. She recently received the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Eye Institute.

Experience

• Assistant Professor (2023 - present)

  Multisensory Integration in Visual Impairment Lab

  State University of New York (SUNY)

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2018 - 2023)

  Ultra Low Vision Lab

  Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

• Low Vision Specialist (2003 - 2006)

  Unit of Medical Research Foundation

  Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India

• Optometrist (2002 - 2006)

  Unit of Medical Research Foundation

  Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India

• Lecturer, Clinical Instructor (2003 - 2005)

  Elite School of Optometry, Chennai, India

Education

• PhD, Vision Rehabilitation (2006 - 2010)

  Queensland University of Technology (QUT)

• MPhil, Vision Rehabilitation, Optometry (2003 - 2005)

  Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Mesra, India

• BS, Optometry (1998 - 2002)

  Birla Institute of Technology & Science