Heather Fennell-Al Sayed (BSc’03, MSc’07) has spent her summer training the emerging leaders of children’s vision care in Malaysia. In July, the Dalhousie alumna-turned-professor traveled to Malaysia with four other orthoptic specialists, all selected by the International Orthoptic Association to share their knowledge overseas.

Fennell-Al Sayed and her team worked tirelessly to train Sweet Wei Tan and Renuka Sundram (pictured above) to become their country’s first orthoptists. Orthoptists are eyecare specialists who focus on binocular vision and ocular motility disorders in children and adults, using non-surgical methods.

Back home, Fennell-Al Sayed holds dual positions as an assistant professor in Dal’s Clinical Vision Science program and as an orthoptist for the IWK. She is one of merely 190 registered orthoptists in Canada, whose teaching is in high demand around the globe.

Treating children early is essential for maximizing the impact of their orthoptic care, says Fennell-Al Sayed. That’s why her work abroad will make such an impact, by helping prepare Malaysia’s first orthoptists to address a variety of children’s vision disorders.

Read more in “Dal prof transforming children’s eye care in Malaysia” on dal.ca.