Dr Aeesha NJ Malik
Dr Aeesha Malik is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, with training in both clinical ophthalmology and public health. Her work focuses on reducing childhood blindness and inequity through improving health systems, integrating eye care into child health policies, and improving Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) programmes in low and middle income countries.
She has extensive experience in clinical work and training of health workers across Africa, Asia and South America. Dr Malik has been appointed as a Faculty member of the Chinese Academy of Eye Health in Paediatric Ophthalmology. In Tanzania she and her colleagues created a model for integrating eye care into a WHO/UNICEF child health programme which was taken up as national health policy. She also led a network strengthening ROP services across Africa and Asia through building strong collaborative partnerships, training ROP teams and changing national health policy.
Dr Malik was previously a Clinical Advisor at the UK Department of Health on national eye health policy, and is still a Health Policy Advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health. Her research highlighted the geographical variation in sight impairment and the value of eye care in the UK. This led to working on a number of strategies to improve the quality of eye care services in conjunction with WHO, VISION 2020, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and the UK Vision Strategy.
Kenneth Carrol van Toll
Kenneth Carol van Toll specialises in institutional fundraising and worked with several international NGOs such as BRAC International, Global Reporting Initiative, and KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation. She has worked on themes such as TB control and global health, sustainability reporting, education, agriculture, emergency response, and independent media and press freedom in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Kenneth started her career in journalism working as a TV news producer in Indonesia for press agency Reuters and other international media for several years. In 2002 she moved to the international development sector and since then focuses on program development, strategic planning, and institutional fundraising. She currently is the director of Global Development & Partnerships at the international NGO What Design Can Do based in Amsterdam.
Nicola Watkinson
Nicola Watkinson is Managing Director, International Trade and Investment at TheCityUK, an organisation that represents the interests of the UK’s most significant financial and related professional services (FRPS) companies. Her role focuses on positioning the UK’s FRPS industry for future success, improving global market access, developing supportive policies and removing impediments to trade and investment.
With a successful career as a senior diplomat with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Nicola has led a network of regional teams around the world, including in Europe, South Asia and the Americas. Nicola leads the diversity and inclusion work for TheCityUK, having also been the global diversity and inclusion champion for Austrade. She first became associated with Fred Hollows Foundation when living in New York, as part of the North American Advisory Council.
Our Staff
Nick Virr
Head of Development UK, Europe and Middle East
Following a 20-year career building his technology businesses in Australia, Nick has spent 13 years creating sustainable impact in East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya) and South Asia (Nepal and Bangladesh).
Nick has designed and delivered solutions for economic empowerment, climate adaptation, renewable energy, agriculture, water and sanitation, and health and education for International non-government organisations such as Shared Interest, Renewable World, BRAC, and now The Fred Hollows Foundation. He has first-hand experience delivering impact, in challenging contexts using a wide variety of finance, business, development, public-private-partnership and social enterprise models.
Nick has a 1st Class Joint Honours degree in International Development and East Asian Studies and an MSc in Sustainability (Environment and Development). He seeks to play his part at The Foundation by combining his commercial, sustainability, and development experience and passion in a way that expands and diversifies our partnerships, innovations, and financial resources to help tackle the global eye-sight challenge at significant scale.
Lousia Syrett
Global Advocacy Adviser
Over her career, Louisa has developed a deep understanding of Palestine, the Gulf and key countries across sub-Saharan Africa, where she has cultivated a number of high-profile strategic partnerships.
Louisa has brought more than 15 years of experience in senior roles to The Foundation, including six years at the British Council, where she founded the global innovation challenge #ideaschangelives and empowered colleagues to create strategic partnerships with other organisations where the British Council could extend its impact and reach, and be more innovative. Louisa also spent three years at Save the Children, where she led income growth of 926% through a range of new partnerships that focussed on supporting the newly launched UK poverty portfolio.
Louisa holds a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and History) from the University of Melbourne and a Masters of Arts (Cyberculture and the Law) from Macquarie University. She is a member of the BOND SDG Steering Committee, Vice Chair for Sutton Vision, a small sight-loss charity in the London borough of Sutton, and Vice Chair for the John and Joan Corfield Charitable Trust, a small charity dedicated to supporting young people involved in sport in Streatham.
Dr Andy Cassels-Brown
Medical Director, Global Programs
Dr Andy Cassels-Brown brings three decades of ophthalmic experience in low, middle and high income environments to his role as The Fred Hollows Foundation’s Medical Director, as well as a passion for community eye health, which he has championed globally, particularly in Africa. He is currently a consultant ophthalmologist for the UK’s National Health Service with responsibilities in cataract services, general, medical retina, and glaucoma service redesign, and has extensive training experience internationally. He also has a passion for Sustainability and chairs the IAPB’s Environmental Sustainability Working Group.
Saad Kayani
Grants Coordinator, Global Programs
Saad Kayani is the Grants Coordinator at The Fred Hollows Foundation. He manages grants across various African and Asian regions. He initially joined The Foundation as a Project Officer where he played a pivotal role in our work to eliminate trachoma in Pakistan.
Previously, he worked for the Global Fund’s Malaria program as a Senior Program Officer and with OXFAM as a Program Officer. The particular focus of these roles was around women and children’s health.
Before beginning his professional career Saad graduated from Glasgow University where his research focus was based on child mortality in developing countries.