Carla Lança
Research Associate
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: PhD NOVA University Lisbon
Research Websites: Volcic Lab
Research Areas: Myopia, Refractive error, Visual impairment, Children
Carla Lança is a Research Associate at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and an internationally recognized vision science and public health researcher specializing in myopia and translational ophthalmic research. She has nearly 18 years of combined clinical, educational, and research experience across Portugal, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates, with expertise spanning clinical, epidemiological, and population-based studies of visual health and refractive development.
At NYUAD, Lança contributes to interdisciplinary research examining how vision guides human interaction with objects. Her work uses controlled simulations of visual impairment to investigate how reduced or altered visual input affects grasping behavior, movement kinematics, and contact-point selection during object interaction, advancing understanding of the role of vision in sensorimotor coordination.
In parallel, Lança conducts clinical and population-based research on myopia, focusing on its epidemiology, risk factors, and evidence-based management, particularly in children. She has authored more than 85 peer-reviewed publications in leading Q1 ophthalmology and vision science journals, with an h-index of 23 (Scopus) and over 2,500 citations. Her work has received international recognition, including being listed among the Stanford University Top 2 % Scientists (2025) and receiving the Bernard Gilmartin OPO Award from the College of Optometrists (UK) in 2024. She also received the Best Free Paper Abstract Award (Translational Research) at the APAO Congress (2019), and several of her publications have been highly cited or among the most downloaded in their respective journals. Lança serves on editorial boards including BMC Ophthalmology and Ophthalmology and Therapy and is a regular reviewer for several international journals.