Dr. Chakraborty completed his undergraduation in Optometry from Elite School of Optometry, Chennai, India in 2006. After working as an optometrist for 3 years in India, he joined the PhD program in Vision Science at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Chakraborty's PhD was one of the first investigations to bridge the work on diurnal rhythms and refractive error development in animal models to human eyes, and was awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in 2013 from Queensland University of Technology. Following PhD, he did 3.5 years of postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Ophthalmology at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, where he examined the contribution of various retinal cell types and pathways in normal eye development and response to visual deprivation myopia in mouse mutants.

Dr. Chakraborty joined Flinders University in February 2017. He leads the 'Myopia and Visual Development Lab' at Flinders. His areas of research interest are myopia and refractive error development, visual optics and retinal imaging. His current work is investigating the role of spectral and temporal features of ambient lighting and circadian rhythms in the pathogenesis of myopia in children. In addition, he has a keen research interest in children vision and visual development. He uses a range of optical, molecular, and imaging techniques to study various mechanisms underlying the development of refractive errors.

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is the most common refractive disorder among children and young adults, and one of the most common causes of visual impairment across all ages. For individuals with myopia, distant images appear blurry due to their enlarged eyes. Myopia currently affects 30% of the Australian population, and it is predicted that about 20 million Australians will develop myopia by 2050. Globally, about 1 in 3 people are myopic, and it is anticipated that almost half of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050. Myopia, especially in severe cases, may cause blindness due to several ocular complications, and consequently regarded as a major public health problem. Despite much research, the mechanisms responsible for refractive errors and the increase in myopia prevalence remain elusive.

Dr. Chakraborty's 'Myopia and Visual Development Lab' uses a range of optical, imaging and molecular techniques to study children vision and potential mechanisms underlying refractive error development. He studies the role of ambient lighting and circadian dysregulation in refractive error development of human eyes. Dr. Chakraborty is also examining the influence of retinal neurons and neurotransmitters (such as dopamine) in ocular growth and myopia development. His other interests are visual optics, retinal physiology and retinal imaging. 

• Circadian rhythms and myopia (1)
• ipRGC function, light exposure and myopia (1)