Dr Philip Turnbull is a New Zealand Board-registered optometrist and a Senior Lecturer at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Auckland. He serves as an Advisor and Researcher for the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Board and provides expert witness testimony in criminal proceedings. Additionally, he acts as an optometric advisor to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other agencies. 

At the University of Auckland, Dr Turnbull teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in optometry. He developed the innovative "Virtual Patient" teaching tool, which allows early optometry students to practice their laboratory skills outside the preclinical lab. This tool earned him a Butland Award for innovation in teaching. 

In 2010, alongside Dr John Phillips, Dr Turnbull co-founded the Myopia Control Clinic as part of the Auckland Myopia Lab, where he served as the inaugural Director. This translational research clinic has been instrumental in promoting myopia preventative treatments, influencing practices both nationally and internationally. These methods are now integrated into the undergraduate curriculum and are widely adopted in the optometric community. 

Dr Turnbull's current research focuses on leveraging the latest technology to advance vision research and clinical practice. His work primarily involves virtual reality, eye tracking, artificial intelligence, and data science visualizations for complex data.