Heroes of Orbis: Dr. Sheetal Pundir

Dr. Sheetal Pundir’s passion for helping others, shaped by her journey rooted in underprivilege, inspired her to join Orbis’s team of expert volunteers to nurture the skills of local eye doctors on our recent Flying Eye Hospital project in Bangladesh – where she received rave reviews for her outstanding efforts!

Dr. Pundir is heavily involved in research and teaching initiatives spanning AI applications in healthcare, patient education, and clinical trials. Her years of expertise, research, and the critical skills she gained from McGill University’s new Ophthalmology Simulation Laboratory prepared her for the simulation training sessions on our Bangladesh project.

Her academic journey kicked off with a scholarship to a PhD program at the University of Ottawa, where she secured patents and the Dean’s thesis award for her work repurposing drugs and their variants with improved anti-cancer properties. Post-doctoral work led her to research the role of metabolism and potential therapeutics for retinopathy of prematurity, a common eye condition in preterm infants and the most common cause of childhood blindness.

Dr. Pundir’s research efforts and community engagement have been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award and the Forces AVENIR Award. Most recently, Fighting Blindness Canada awarded her the Emerging Clinician Scientist Leader’s Award for her project on ophthalmic manifestations in Zellweger Spectrum Disorder.

Dr. Pundir is also a member of the McGill University chapter of the Orbis Future Vision Leaders, a community of Canadian medical students and ophthalmology residents with a passion for eye health and supporting Orbis in the fight to end avoidable blindness globally.

Humbled by her first Flying Eye Hospital experience, Dr. Pundir says: “As one of the few women from my community to go to university, I am conscious of how fortunate I am. My upbringing in extreme poverty has taught me the importance of valuing chances. The trip to Bangladesh was one such chance. Working alongside my Bangladeshi colleagues, sharing knowledge, and being part of Orbis's vision is an incredible privilege. I learned as much from them as they did from me, reinforcing the value of cross-cultural exchange and collaborative learning.”

She is grateful for the quality mentorship at McGill, sharing: “My mentors and the skills I've cultivated here now resonate with even greater significance. My colleagues in Bangladesh were so appreciative of the teaching that it has reinforced my commitment to sharing the opportunities I've been fortunate to receive with colleagues around the world.”

We were so fortunate to have the passion and skills of Dr. Pundir on our recent Flying Eye Hospital project and look forward to seeing the impact she will continue to make in the eye health space. Thank you, Dr. Pundir for your compassion, dedication, and vision.