Dr Lingam Gopal completed his medical graduate degree from Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam in 1979; MS (Ophthalmology) from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh in 1982; Diploma of National Board of Examinations (DNB) in 1984; and FRCS (Edin) in September 2002 and MSc (epidemiology) university of London 2016.

He underwent fellowship training in Vitreoretinal surgery in 1983 from Medical Research Foundation, a unit of Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India. He worked as consultant in vitreo retinal services at Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India between 1984-2011; 2016-18 and 2022- till date.

He worked as a senior consultant at National University Hospital, Singapore between 2011- 2021.

He has published 259 papers in peer reviewed national and international journals and has also written 31 chapters in various ophthalmic books. He has delivered several lectures at various national and international conferences as an invited guest speaker. He has received 37 awards from various ophthalmological societies and institutions in India and Singapore.