Professor Khumbo Kalua is the founding Director of the Blantyre Institute for Community Outreach (BICO) in Malawi, Southern Africa. He is a trained medical doctor and ophthalmologist, and holds a PhD in Global Health (Infectious Tropical Diseases) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Over more than 20 years, he has led national child blindness programmes in Malawi and conducted extensive research in low vision.

His work focuses on community-based health solutions, including emerging research on integrating artificial intelligence into primary care. He has led and contributed to multiple clinical trials, eye health service delivery initiatives, and implementation science programmes. Notably, he served as Principal Investigator for Malawi’s Trachoma Elimination Programme, contributing to the country’s elimination status in 2022. He was also an investigator on the landmark MORDOR trial, which demonstrated reductions in child mortality across Malawi, Niger, and Tanzania, and a Malawian Principal Investigator for the DeWorm3 trial conducted in Malawi, Benin, and India.

Professor Kalua is the Program Director for the Master of Global Health at the University of British Columbia in Canada and serves as Associate Faculty in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, based at the Vancouver General Hospital. His current focus includes strengthening equitable North–South global health collaborations through organizations such as the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Canadian Ophthalmological Society.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at Amref International University in Kenya and serves as Board Chair of Amref Health Africa in Malawi.