Prof Little’s research focuses on investigating refractive error, accommodation and visual function in childhood, and aims to optimise vision, educational attainment and quality of life through effective eye care and interventions for individuals across the world, and she has raised over £5.4M in research grant funding. She is a member of the WHO Global Burden for Disease (GBD) study Vision Loss expert group. To date, she has authored 60 peer-reviewed journal articles with >1500 citations, with publications predominantly in Q1 Scimago ranked journals in Ophthalmology and included in both UK REF2014 and REF2021 submissions for her University. She served on the REF2029 People, Culture and Environment pilot panel.

Her research outputs demonstrate her sustained focus on improving vision and eyecare for people with developmental disability, using cutting-edge methodologies coupled with clinical expertise in conducting optometric assessment of hard-to-test groups. They also reflect her research investigating the impact of uncorrected hyperopia in children for reading and near tasks, and epidemiological work on unmet visual need. She contributes to postgraduate and undergraduate Optometry programmes and has a strong external profile in optometry as past President of the European Council of Optometry and Optics, and as Chairman of the Association of Optometrists in the UK. She is Chair of the ECOO European Qualifications Board, leading the accreditation activity of upskilling and harmonisation of optometry education across Europe.