Tarek M. Shaarawy is the Head of the Glaucoma unit, and the Glaucoma surgery research group at the University of Geneva Hospitals. He obtained both his medical bachelor and Masters Degree in ophthalmology at the University of Cairo, and his Doctorate in Medicine degree from the University of Lausanne. He trained in ophthalmology at the Cairo Research Institute of Ophthalmology and completed two glaucoma fellowships at the Universities of Lausanne and Basel. He is currently the President of the International Society of Glaucoma surgery and serving as a member of the board of Governors of the World Glaucoma Association.

His main research interests are surgical techniques of Glaucoma surgery, normal pressure glaucoma, and glaucoma patterns of practice in developed and developing countries. He is the author and editor of seven text books on Glaucoma, and more than 120 book chapters and publications in peer reviewed journals. He is the editor in chief of the journal of current glaucoma practice, he also serves on the editorial board of many ophthalmology journals, including the International Journal of Ophthalmology, the Journal of Glaucoma, the Canadian Journal of ophthalmology, the Middle East African Journal of ophthalmology, and The Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology, among others.

In addition to his glaucoma practice Tarek Shaarawy is active in a number of NGOs dealing with global prevention of blindness, and is a founder member of the board of trustees of the Baladi Foundation, which serves patients in upper Egypt.