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Dr Kiranjit Bains
BSc PhD MCOptom AFHEA
Postdoctoral Research Associate
School of Optometry and Vision Sciences
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Honours and Awards
2020: Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund Award
2016: Naylor Prize Winner: Undergraduate Project Work: Clinical Review
2013: International Student Scholarship: Cardiff University
2008: Faculty of Science Entrance Scholarship: University of Waterloo
2008: Sikh Youth Educational Foundation Award
Professional Memberships
2020-Present: The Higher Educational Academy (Associate Fellow)
Academic Overview
2021-Present: Clinical Examiner: Eye Health Examination Wales (EHEW), Cardiff, UK
2020-2022: Postgraduate Clinical Supervisor: Clinical MSc., Welsh Optometry Postgraduate Education Centre (WOPEC), Cardiff, UK
2020-2022: Undergraduate Clinical Supervisor: OP3202: Low Vision and Contact Lenses, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
2017-2022: Clinical Demonstrator: OP2201: Clinical Studies and Dispensing, OP2201: Contact Lenses, OP1201: Basic Clinical Techniques, OP0205: Pre-Screening, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
Educational and Professional Qualifications
2022: Ph.D. Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, UK
2016: BSc. Optometry, Cardiff University, UK
2012: BSc. Honours Biomedical Sciences, University of Waterloo, Canada
External Committees/Memberships
2013-Present: The General Optical Council
2013-Present: Member of the Association of Optometrists
2013-Present: Member of the College of Optometrists (MCOptom)
Publication
2023
- Bains, K. K., Young, R. D., Koudouna, E., Lewis, P. N. and Quantock, A. J. 2023. Cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions at the presumptive stem cell niche of the chick corneal limbus. Cells 12(19), article number: 2334. (10.3390/cells12192334)
- Bains, K. K., Ashworth, S., Koudouna, E., Young, R. D., Hughes, C. E. and Quantock, A. J. 2023. Chondroitin sulphate/dermatan sulphate proteoglycans: potential regulators of corneal stem/progenitor cell phenotype in vitro. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24(3), article number: 2095. (10.3390/ijms24032095)
2022
- Bains, K. K. 2022. Investigations into avian cornea development and the influence of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans on keratocyte phenotype. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
2021
- Ashworth, S. et al. 2021. Chondroitin sulfate as a potential modulator of the stem cell niche in cornea. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 8, article number: 567358. (10.3389/fcell.2020.567358)
2019
- Bains, K. K., Fukuoka, H., Hammond, G. M., Sotozono, C. and Quantock, A. J. 2019. Recovering vision in corneal epithelial stem cell deficient eyes. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye 42(4), pp. 350-358. (10.1016/j.clae.2019.04.006)
Articles
- Bains, K. K., Young, R. D., Koudouna, E., Lewis, P. N. and Quantock, A. J. 2023. Cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions at the presumptive stem cell niche of the chick corneal limbus. Cells 12(19), article number: 2334. (10.3390/cells12192334)
- Bains, K. K., Ashworth, S., Koudouna, E., Young, R. D., Hughes, C. E. and Quantock, A. J. 2023. Chondroitin sulphate/dermatan sulphate proteoglycans: potential regulators of corneal stem/progenitor cell phenotype in vitro. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24(3), article number: 2095. (10.3390/ijms24032095)
- Ashworth, S. et al. 2021. Chondroitin sulfate as a potential modulator of the stem cell niche in cornea. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology 8, article number: 567358. (10.3389/fcell.2020.567358)
- Bains, K. K., Fukuoka, H., Hammond, G. M., Sotozono, C. and Quantock, A. J. 2019. Recovering vision in corneal epithelial stem cell deficient eyes. Contact Lens and Anterior Eye 42(4), pp. 350-358. (10.1016/j.clae.2019.04.006)
Thesis
- Bains, K. K. 2022. Investigations into avian cornea development and the influence of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans on keratocyte phenotype. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
Research
Research Overview
I am a postdoctoral research associate working within the Structural Biophysics Group in the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences. My current research is funded by an £888k Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council grant that focuses on the nanoscale structural characterisation of ocular tissues derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells.
Research Collaborators
Professor Ryuhei Hayashi, Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
Professor Kohji Nishida, Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
Professor Barbara Pierscionek, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Social Care, Anglia Ruskin University, UK
Professor May Griffith, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Montreal, Canada
Teaching
2020-2022: Postgraduate Clinical Supervisor: Clinical MSc., Welsh Optometry Postgraduate Education Centre (WOPEC), Cardiff, UK
2020-2022: Undergraduate Clinical Supervisor: OP3202: Low Vision and Contact Lenses, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
2017-2022: Clinical Demonstrator: OP2201: Clinical Studies and Dispensing, OP2201: Contact Lenses, OP1201: Basic Clinical Techniques, OP0205: Pre-Screening, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University
Biography
Honours and awards
2020: Canadian Centennial Scholarship Fund Award
2016: Naylor Prize Winner: Undergraduate Project Work: Clinical Review
2013: International Student Scholarship: Cardiff University
2008: Faculty of Science Entrance Scholarship: University of Waterloo
2008: Sikh Youth Educational Foundation Award
Professional memberships
2020-Present: The Higher Educational Academy (Associate Fellow)
2013- Present: Registered with the General Optical Council (Reg. No: 01-30413)
2013-Present: Member of the College of Optometrists (MCOptom)
2017-Present: Association of Optometrists
Academic positions
2021-Present: Clinical Examiner: Eye Health Examination Wales (EHEW), Cardiff, UK
- Wales Eye Care Service (WECS) Accreditation and Refraction Course for Ophthalmologists
Speaking engagements
Cardiff University School of Dentistry: MSc Module (2019 & 2020)
- Invited by the Cardiff Institute of Tissue Engineering and Repair to present a lecture entitled "Tissue Engineering and the Eye."
Speaking of Science Conference (2019)
- Presented a talk entitled "Corneal Keratocyte-Matrix Interactions May Promote Stem Cell Phenotype in the Developing Eye."
Committees and reviewing
Research Management Group - Postdoctoral Research Associate Representative (2023-Present)
Optometry Research Staff Forum - Chair (2023- Present)
The Ocular Surface - Reviewer (2023-Present)
Archives of Experimental Ophthalmology Journal - Reviewer (2021-Present)
Learning and Teaching Committee - School of Optometry and Vision Sciences Postgraduate Representative (2019-2022)
Research themes
Specialisms
- Stem cells
- Biophysics
- Tissue engineering
- Electron microscopy