Vision and Eye Research Institute
Dr Sapkota’s research expertise and interests are on diabetes and diabetic retinopathy in Asians. His other areas of research expertise are visual short-term memory, and visual function in age-related macular degeneration.
Following his two-and-a-half years' service as an optometrist at BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Nepal, Dr Sapkota came to the UK. He obtained an MSc degree in Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science from the University of Manchester (2006), and a PhD from Anglia Ruskin University (2010).
Dr Sapkota works as a Senior Research Fellow in the Vision and Eye Research Institute. Dr Sapkota has published findings in high-impact journals. He has presented papers at national and international conferences, and has obtained a number of research-related grants and awards.
Dr Sapkota has supervised one PhD project to completion (Title: Effect of environmental stress on diabetic cornea). He is also currently co-supervising a PhD project (Visual short-term memory binding as a screening tool for early cognitive decline in dementia).
He has supervised more than a dozen research interns to date, leading to several research outputs.
Pardhan, S., Raman, R., Biswas, A., Jaisankar, D., Ahluwalia, S. and Sapkota, R. (2024) 'Knowledge, attitude, and practice of diabetes in patients with and without sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy from two secondary eye care centres in India', BMC Public Health, 24(1), pp. 55. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17371-3
Kumar, G., Velu, S., Pardhan, S., Sapkota, R., Ruamviboonsuk, P., Tadarati, M., Chotcomwongse, P., Nganthavee, V., Pattanapongpaiboon, W. and Raman, R. (2023) 'Patient, family member, and health care provider perspective on barriers and facilitators to diabetic retinopathy screening in Thailand: A qualitative study', PLoS One, 18(8), e0289618. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289618
Sapkota, R. P., van der Linde, I., Grunwald, I. Q., Upadhyaya, T., Lamichhane, N. and Pardhan S. (2023) 'The impact of stimulus configuration on visual short-term memory decline in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment', Brain Behav.. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3113. Epub ahead of print.
Pardhan, S., Upadhyaya, T., Smith, L., Sharma, T., Tuladhar, S., Adhikari, B., Kidd, J. and Sapkota, R. (2023) 'Individual patient-centered target-driven intervention to improve clinical outcomes of diabetes, health literacy, and self-care practices in Nepal: A randomized controlled trial', Front Endocrinol, 14, 1076253. Available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1076253
Pardhan, S., Islam, M. S., López-Sánchez, G. F., Upadhyaya, T. and Sapkota, R. P. (2021) 'Self-isolation negatively impacts self-management of diabetes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic', Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome, 13(1), pp. 123. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-021-00734-4
Vaughan, M., Trott, M., Sapkota, R., Premi, G., Roberts, J., Ubhi, J., Smith, L. and Pardhan, S. (2021) 'Changes in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels post-vitamin D supplementation in people of Black and Asian ethnicities and its implications during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review', Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 35(5), pp. 995-1005. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12949
Madheswaran, G., Ramesh, S. V., Pardhan, S., Sapkota, R. and Raman, R. (2021) 'Impact of living with a bilateral central vision loss due to geographic atrophy—qualitative study', BMJ Open, 11(7), e047861. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-047861
Pardhan, S., Smith, L. and Sapkota, R. P. (2021) 'Vitamin D Deficiency as an Important Biomarker for the Increased Risk of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in People From Black and Asian Ethnic Minority Groups', Frontiers in Public Health, 8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.613462
Pardhan, S., Nakafero, G., Raman, R. and Sapkota, R. (2020) 'Barriers to diabetes awareness and self-help are influenced by people's demographics: perspectives of South Asians with type 2 diabetes', Ethnicity and Health, 25(6), pp. 843-861. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2018.1455809
Sapkota, R. P., van der Linde, I. and Pardhan, S. (2020) 'How does aging influence object-location and name-location binding during a visual short-term memory task?', Aging and Mental Health, 24(1), pp. 63-72. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1515887
López-Sánchez, G. F., Smith, L., Raman, R., Jaysankar, D., Singh, S., Sapkota, R., Díaz Suárez, A. and Pardhan, S. (2019) 'Physical activity behaviour in people with diabetes residing in India: A cross-sectional analysis', Science and Sports, 34(1), e59-e66. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2018.08.005
López-Sánchez, G. F., Smith, L., Zheng, D., Sapkota, R., Yang, L., Chen, Z. and Pardhan, S. (2019) 'Physical activity behaviour in people with diabetes residing in China: A cross-sectional analysis', Science and Sports, 34(3), pp. 178-180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2018.11.004
Sapkota, R., Chen, Z., Zheng, D. and Pardhan, S. (2019) 'The profile of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy in patients attending a specialist eye clinic in Hangzhou, China', BMJ Open Ophthalmology, 4(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2018-000236
Sapkota, R., van der Linde, I. and Pardhan, S. (2018) 'How does aging influence object-location and name-location binding during a visual short-term memory task?', Aging and Mental Health, 24(1), pp. 63-72. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2018.1515887
Felipe López Sánchez, G., Raman, R., Jaysankar, D., Singh, S., Sapkota, R., Díaz Suárez, A., Smith, L. and Pardhan, S. (2018) 'Physical activity behaviour in people with diabetes residing in India: A cross-sectional analysis', Science and Sports. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2018.08.005
Felipe López Sánchez, G., Smith, L., Zheng, D., Sapkota, R., Chen, Z. and Pardhan, S. (2018) 'Physical activity behaviour in people with diabetes residing in India: A cross-sectional analysis', Science and Sports. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scispo.2018.11.004
Sapkota, R. P., Upadhyaya, T., Gurung, G., Parker, M., Raman, R. and Pardhan, S. (2018) 'Need to improve awareness and treatment compliance in high-risk patients for diabetic complications in Nepal', BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, 6(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjdrc-2018-000525
Pardhan, S., Nakafero, G., Raman, R. and Sapkota, R. (2018) 'Barriers to diabetes awareness and self-help are influenced by people's demographics: perspectives of South Asians with type 2 diabetes', Ethnicity and Health, 25(6), pp. 843-861. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.2018.1455809
Sapkota, R. P., Van Der Linde, I., Lamichhane, N., Upadhyaya, T. and Pardhan, S. (2017) 'Patients with mild cognitive impairment show lower visual short-term memory performance in feature binding tasks', Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders Extra, 7(1), pp. 74-86. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1159/000455831
Pardhan, S. and Sapkota, R. (2016) 'Eye complications of exposure to blue-violet light', Points de Vue, International Review of Ophthalmic Optics, September 2016.
Sapkota, R. P., Pardhan, S. and van der Linde, I. (2016) 'Spatiotemporal Proximity Effects in Visual Short-Term Memory Examined by Target-Non-target Analysis', Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42, pp. 1304-1315.
Sapkota, R., Pardhan, S. and van der Linde, I. (2015) 'Change detection in visual short-term memory: the relative impact of pairwise switches and identity substitutions', Experimental Psychology, 62, pp. 232-239.
Sapkota, R., van der Linde, I. and Pardhan, S. (2015) 'How does aging affect the types of error made in a visual short-term memory 'object-recall' task?', Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 6(346). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2014.00346
Sapkota R, Upadhyaya T, Gurung G, Biswas A, Durgasri J, Raman R, Pardhan S, (2017). Clinical and non-clinical factors predicting retinopathy severity in patients attending three different diabetic eye clinics in India and Nepal. The Association of Research in Visio and Ophthalmology, Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 58, 70.
Chen Z, Sapkota R, Zheng D, Pardhan S. (2017). The need for early retinopathy screening and improved awareness in diabetic patients in Hangzhou, China. The Association of Research in Visio and Ophthalmology, Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 58, 79.
Robson J, Raman R, Durgasri J, Sapkota R, Pardhan S, (2017). Contrast sensitivity measured with illiterate single-use printed paper charts to assess the severity of diabetic retinopathy. The Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 58, 4698.
Robson J, Sapkota R, Kidd J, Newman D, Pardhan S (2016). Self-assessment of visual function using new single-use printed charts. The Association of Research in Visio and Ophthalmology, Seattle, Washington, May 1-5, 2016. Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 57, 12.
Sapkota R, van der Linde I, Pardhan S, (2014). Effect of age on the types of error made in a visual short-term memory ‘object-recall’ task. British Congress for Optometry and Vision Science, September 8-9, Cardiff, Wales. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 34, 684
Interview with OS Nepal to increase awareness amongst Nepalese on the UV and blue light and their complications in the eye.