Dr Obaid Kousha is a Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) clinical lecturer in the Infection and Global Health Division of the School of Medicine at the University of St Andrews. Dr Kousha is also an ophthalmology speciality trainee working in NHS Tayside and NHS Fife.

Dr Kousha studied Medicine at St John’s College, University of Oxford, intercalating with a BA in Neuroscience. After completing medical school, he worked as a foundation doctor in Devon and Cornwall before working as a junior research fellow in ophthalmology at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust. As a junior research fellow, his responsibilities included assessing and recruiting patients for clinical trials in the medical retina while ensuring the smooth running of the day-to-day business of clinical trials. This was a gateway for a career in ophthalmology and he started his ophthalmology speciality training in NHS Tayside and NHS Fife. During this period, Dr Kousha started working with Dr Andrew Blaikie in Global Health Division.

In his current capacity, Dr Kousha is involved in the supervision and teaching of undergraduate medical students. Dr Kousha’s main research interest is in the development and validation of low-cost ophthalmic devices designed for use in low resource settings. In particular, his work includes finding ways of diagnosing and managing diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity using frugal devices.