Ophthalmology

Delivery

The NIHR supports patients and the public to participate in high quality research taking place in health and care settings across England, advancing knowledge and improving care.

NIHR Clinical Research Network

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) includes 30 specialty groups, who coordinate and support the delivery of high quality research by therapy area. Some of this research is funded by the NIHR, but most of it is funded by non-commercial organisations, such as charities or universities, and the life sciences industry.

The CRN provides researchers with the practical support they need to make research happen. It supports the set up and delivery of clinical research in the NHS and in other health and care settings through our Study Support Service, with tailored offers of support for:

• non-commercial organisations and
• the life sciences industry.

Supporting ophthalmology research

We oversee research that deals with both the medical and the surgical treatment of eye diseases, as well as optometry, visual rehabilitation and other key areas within the broader discipline of vision sciences.

We support a broad range of research studies including those involving medicines and devices for eye diseases, those investigating childhood and inherited visual disorders, and studies of aids to help people with visual impairment.

UK-wide Ophthalmology Clinical Research Strategy

Ophthalmology is a rapidly growing research area in the UK recruiting 10-15,000 patients to research trials annually and involving most NHS Trusts. Ophthalmology has the largest demand on outpatient departments in the country and this is increasing.

The UK-wide Ophthalmology Clinical Research Strategy will help tailor research to meet this demand, exploring the areas of unmet need in the population and facilitating a non-commercial and commercial ‘research pipeline’ of therapies and technologies, which should encourage more coordinated funding streams.

The Strategy is managed by an Executive Board which is chaired by Professor Rupert Bourne, NIHR Clinical Research Network National Specialty Lead for Ophthalmology.

Five ophthalmology subspecialty Clinical Study Groups (CSGs) have been established to act as key routes through which research themes are prioritised and studies are peer reviewed and developed. Each have both professional and lay representation and offer peer-review support for new study ideas, support to develop studies in set-up and investigator-led studies to attract external funding. Importantly, the CSGs will reach out to specialties allied to Ophthalmology such as Ageing, Dementias and Diabetes research in order to further the collaborations needed to improve patient and population outcomes.

The CSGs are coordinated by Manjo Doug. The subspecialty areas and chair of each group are listed below:

• Cataract, Optometry, Refractive and Cornea (CORC) – George Saleh
• Glaucoma – Augusto Azuara-Blanco
• Paediatric ophthalmology and neuro-ophthalmology – James Self
• Retina – Sobha Sivaprasad 
• Uveitis – Srilakshmi Sharma 

The Strategy was initiated by the NIHR Clinical Research Network and is supported by the following charities for the next three years: Macular Society; Fight for Sight; Moorfields Eye Charity and Retina UK.

Refresh of eye research priorities

Eye experts across the UK are calling for your input into a new survey designed to refresh the James Lind Alliance Sight Loss and Vision research priorities that were first published in 2013.

Despite on-going eye research taking place across the world, there are still many questions about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sight loss and eye conditions that remain unanswered. Funding for research is limited, so it is important for research funders to understand the unanswered questions of greatest importance to patients, relatives, carers and eye health professionals so that future research can be targeted accordingly.

Following a review of the existing eye research priorities by the NIHR Ophthalmology Specialty group and the UK Clinical Eye Research Strategy earlier this year, a survey has been developed to help fine tune which of the 98 potential research questions should be taken forward as part of the refresh.

The Eye Research Priority survey is open to all eye healthcare professionals and researchers as well as patients, carers and members of the public to participate in; and will be open until 9 August 2022. The survey feedback will inform the final Top 10 updated priorities across different eye sub-specialties.

Who we are

As well as providing research delivery staff, we also bring together highly engaged NHS consultants and clinical academics from top UK universities, bringing both clinical and academic expertise to your research. Our experts in the CRN Specialty Group can advise on delivering your ophthalmology study in the NHS and in particular geographic regions.

Professor Rupert Bourne is the CRN National Specialty Lead for ophthalmology. Read Professor Bourne’s full biography.

Professor Bourne is supported by local specialty leads in each of the 15 NIHR Local Clinical Research Networks.

Our collaborators and stakeholders

We work with The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and The College of Optometrists. In doing so we support NIHR research delivery in the UK through research awards, trainee research networks, and masterclasses.

We have implemented a symposium at the Annual RCOphth Congress with the specific role of engagement and portfolio development with industry sponsors.

NIHR Clinical Research Facilities

NIHR Clinical Research Facilities (CRFs) are purpose built facilities in NHS hospitals where researchers can deliver early-phase and complex studies.

Funding

Our funding programmes fund high quality research in ophthalmology that benefits the NHS, public health and social care. We also provide career development funding awards for ophthalmology researchers - see the careers tab for more information.

Our funding programmes

Our commissioned research programmes often seek research proposals on ophthalmology. Most of our funding programmes also run funding calls open to research proposals on any topic (researcher-led calls), including research proposals in ophthalmology.

• Find out more about funding opportunities in ophthalmology

Got an idea for research in ophthalmology? The NIHR Research Design Service can help you turn it into a funding application, offering advice on research design, research methods, identifying funding sources, and involving patients and the public.

• Find out more about the NIHR Research Design Service

Our portfolio of ophthalmology research

You can search and view all the ophthalmology research we’ve funded on NIHR Funding and Awards.

In addition, a number of our research programmes publish comprehensive accounts of our ophthalmology research in the NIHR Journals Library.

Careers

The NIHR attracts, trains and supports the best researchers in ophthalmology to tackle the complex health and care challenges of the future.

Our investment in people sustains excellent research capacity and expertise throughout clinical and non-clinical academic career pathways and provides high quality learning and development opportunities for the delivery workforce in our infrastructure.

Funding research careers

The NIHR Academy is responsible for the development and coordination of NIHR academic training, career development and research capacity development.

There is a wide range of NIHR training and career development awards available at different career stages, from pre-doctoral through to Research Professorships. These awards comprise both personal awards, which can be applied for directly with the NIHR, and institutional awards which should be applied for through the host institution.

• Find out more about our training programmes

Supporting the delivery workforce

We hold training workshops and symposia to improve knowledge of CRN activities in the UK workforce, and many of our regional leads conduct ‘NIHR Roadshows’ in their regions. More details in due course.

• Find out about our career development support for healthcare professionals

Support

The NIHR invests significantly in people, centres of excellence, collaborations, services and facilities to support health and care research in England. Collectively these form the world-class NIHR infrastructure. We also provide career development funding awards for ophthalmology researchers - see the careers tab for more information.

This national research infrastructure is available to use by UKRI, research charities and the life sciences industry as well as NIHR researchers.

• Find out more about working with our research infrastructure as a researcher or a member of the life sciences industry

NIHR Biomedical Research Centres

NIHR Biomedical Research Centres (BRCs) are collaborations between world-leading universities and NHS organisations that bring together academics and clinicians to translate lab-based scientific breakthroughs into potential new treatments, diagnostics and medical technologies.

The following BRC undertakes research in ophthalmology:

• NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre

NIHR Clinical Research Network

The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) supports set up and delivery of clinical research in the NHS and in other health and care settings. Find out more on the delivery tab.

Experts

The NIHR funds and supports world-class experts in ophthalmology.

• Find out more about collaborating with our experts

In addition, our experts in the NIHR Clinical Research Network (National Specialty Leads) can advise on delivering your ophthalmology study in the NHS or in other health and social care settings.

• Get our expert advice on delivering your research

National Specialty Lead

Professor Rupert Bourne is the NIHR Clinical Research Network National Specialty Lead for Ophthalmology.

Professor Bourne is Professor of Ophthalmology at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Cambridge University Hospital.

He has a strong research interest, particularly in advanced techniques of Glaucoma diagnosis and progression and the management of Glaucoma in the community, along with overseas ophthalmology which has involved design and analysis of several large population-based surveys of eye disease, several national in scope, e.g. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Trinidad.

Read Professor Bourne’s full biography.

Public involvement

We engage with and involve patients, carers, service users and members of the public in order to improve the reach, quality and impact of research in ophthalmology.

Have your say in ophthalmology research

We involve patients, carers, service users and members of the public in our national research funding and support activities, including in ophthalmology research.

• Find out more about getting involved in our national funding and support activities

The researchers we fund also involve patients in planning and delivering their ophthalmology research.

• Find out how to get involved in NIHR-funded research in your local area

Eye-YPAG is a young persons’ advisory group for eye and vision research, working with researchers to explore eye conditions and treatments and ensuring information about research is children and young people friendly.

• Learn more about Eye-YPAG

The NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, which is dedicated to vision research, also has a ‘Research Community’ of patients and the public interested in helping them shape research.

• Find out about joining the Moorfields Research Community

Our Local Clinical Research Networks involve people in ophthalmology research taking place in your local area.

• Find your Local Clinical Research Network to see how you can get involved

Take part research

Be Part of Research is an online service that lists opportunities to take part in ophthalmology research across the UK.