Professor Lisa Keay

Professor Lisa Keay is the Head of the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW Sydney and an Honorary Professorial Fellow at The George Institute for Global Health, UNSW Sydney.  She is a public health researcher, with expertise in epidemiology, health promotion and injury prevention.  She trained as an Optometrist, has a PhD and MPH from UNSW Sydney and completed a research fellowship at the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University.  She leads a successful program of public health research in vision and eye health spanning healthy ageing, injury prevention, health systems research and implementation science.  She devotes considerable efforts to translation of her research on safe mobility for older people into policy and practice.  Recommendations arising from her fall prevention research include timely bilateral cataract surgery, best practice refractive management and evidence-based exercise programs to reduce risk of falls for older people with vision impairment, who are excluded from community programs.  She was a commissioner for the 2020 Lancet Commission of Global Eye Health, on the topics of associations between vision impairment and road traffic injury and falls.  She is an investigator on the second national Australian eye and ear health survey which will conclude in 2024.

Research Groups

• Vision Loss and Healthy Ageing

Research Topics

• Ageing and road safety
• Cost-effectiveness of cataract surgery
• Cost-effectiveness of low vision services
• Epidemiology of eye injuries
• Falls risk and low vision
• Innovative models of eyecare delivery
• Mental health and low vision
• Quality of eye care, evidence-based practice, health systems research
• School vision screening