Moorfields cornea focus 2025

Registrations for the 2025 Moorfields cornea focus meeting are now closed. Please join the waiting list to be notified about the 2026 event.

The 2025 Moorfields cornea focus meeting will take place on 21 November 2025. The topic will be corneal nerves.

The Moorfields cornea focus meeting is a non-promotional meeting supported by an educational grant from Santen UK and organised and charied by Professor Sajjad Ahmad, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Hospital. Each year the meeting focuses on a different topic.

You can hear more from Mr Ahmad, speaking at the 2023 Cornea focus meeting, by watching the short video below:

The 2025 meeting will be held on 21 November at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, UK and will focus on corneal nerves.

We have an exciting agenda featuring a range of expert speakers exploring corneal nerves; from neurotrophic keratopathy to the latest advancements in corneal neuralgia and complex case management.

This is a hybrid event that you can join in-person at the RSM or virtually via live stream.

Who is the course for?

This course is aimed at ophthalmologists, optmetrists, nurses and allied health professionals wishing to update their knowledge about diseases of the cornea.

Accreditation

A certificate of attendance will be awarded at the end of the course. CPD certifcation will be applied for, including GOC points.

The Moorfields cornea focus meeting is a non-promotional meeting supported by an educational grant from Santen UK

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Taught by

Sajjad Ahmad

Sajjad Ahmad is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and the Lead for Experimental Medicine at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, UK. His expertise is in corneal and external eye diseases, particularly inflammatory ocular surface disorders and ocular surface reconstruction. He holds an honorary Associate Clinical Professor position at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, where he runs a laboratory group focusing on corneal stem cell biology and the development of cellular therapies for the eye. Dr Ahmad’s research also investigates translational medicine, analysing drugs, cell therapies and surgical devices for the eye through the regulatory pathway to first-in-human or first-in-eye clinical trials. He is currently running two Phase 1 clinical trials, including a Medical Research Council-funded trial. He is an Ophthalmic Advisor to the European Medicines Agency and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). He also works with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) to evaluate ophthalmic therapies for National Health Service (NHS) application.

Mark Rosenblatt

Mark I. Rosenblatt, MD, PhD, MBA, MHA has been the Executive Dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine since 2019 and was appointed as the G. Stephen Irwin Executive Dean in 2023. He has also served as Chief Executive Officer of the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics since 2024, and previously as Interim CEO since 2023. Dr. Rosenblatt was appointed Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 2023, and previously served as the Illinois Lions/Charles I. Young Chair and Professor of Ophthalmology since 2014. Prior to becoming Executive Dean, Dr. Rosenblatt served as Head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. In addition, he served as Director of the Medical Scientist Training Program from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Dr. Rosenblatt was a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical College from 2008 to 2014, including serving a term as Vice Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Rosenblatt is an internationally recognized clinician-scientist. As Director of the Corneal Regenerative Medicine Laboratory, he leads groups of scientists investigating the mechanism of corneal peripheral nerve regeneration following injury, and the use of nanoengineered biomaterials for use in stem cell delivery to the ocular surface. His work in regenerative medicine has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, Research to Prevent Blindness, the Falk Family Foundation, and the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative. Dr. Rosenblatt has published widely, including over 150 original manuscripts, review articles, book chapters, and abstracts. Dr. Rosenblatt is a graduate of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s Honors Program in Medical Education and the Combined MD/PhD program, receiving his PhD in Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology. He also completed his MBA at New York University and his MHA at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. Dr. Rosenblatt completed his ophthalmology residency and combined clinical/research fellowship in corneal disease at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies.

Giulio Ferrari

Dr. Giulio Ferrari is an ophthalmologist specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the cornea and the ocular surface. He has a special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders of the ocular surface. In addition to his clinical activity, Dr. Ferrari has a strong interest in translational and clinical research, he leads the Eye Repair research Unit of the Department with the final goal of improving treatment of patients, with a specific focus on the role of corneal nerves dysfunction in highly prevalent ocular diseases. Dr. Ferrari graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Parma (cum laude). He then completed his ophthalmology residency (cum laude) at the University Hospital of Parma Italy. Later, he joined a Cornea fellowship program at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and a Post-doctoral fellowship at the Harvard Medical School, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston USA. Finally, he attended the PhD program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Parma, Italy. Dr. Ferrari’s training also includes a research fellowship at the University College of London, where he collaborated to develop a novel imaging technique to diagnose glaucoma, and a clinical fellowship in oculoplastic surgery in East Grinstead, UK. Dr. Ferrari strongly believes that better understanding of disease mechanisms can significantly ameliorate the treatment of patients. To this end, he has been promoting clinical and basic research activity at the San Raffaele Hospital to better understand, and ameliorate the treatment of, corneal neovascularisation, keratoconus and intractable ocular pain. Dr. Ferrari has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications. His work has been published on leading ophthalmology journals, including Progress in Retina and Eye Research, The American Journal of Ophthalmology, Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. He was also an author of 4 book chapters, and he is listed as inventor in 4 patent applications. He sits in the Editorial board of multiple journals, including The Ocular Surface and Translational Vision Science and Technology, and regularly serves as ad hoc reviewer for more than 15 ophthalmology and immunology journals. In recognition of his efforts to translate research into solid clinical implications. Dr. Ferrari has been awarded the Point Guard Bioscience Innovation in Ophthalmology Award in 2016 and the Pfizer Carl Camras Translational Ophthalmology Award in 2020.

Mitra Tavakoli

Mitra Tavakoli is an Associate Professor in Medicine at the University of Exeter and holds an honorary position as Professor of Diabetes and Endocrinology at University Hospital Birmingham. She is renowned for her pioneering work in diabetic neuropathy, neurodegenerative diseases, and rare neuropathies. Her research focuses on a range of oculomics and other neuropathy biomarkers, with a particular emphasis on corneal nerve morphology as a biomarker for small fiber neuropathy. Professor Tavakoli has published more than 90 papers and presents regularly at international conferences. She is actively involved in and leads clinical trials aimed at improving diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for diabetic neuropathy, as well as some metabolic rare diseases. Her work continues to have a significant impact on clinical practice, advancing both diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to neuropathy. In addition to her research, Professor Tavakoli is a dedicated educator, training scientists and healthcare professionals, and maintains an active clinical role, integrating research advancements into patient care.

Asim Ali

Asim Ali is the Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. He holds the endowed Mira Godard Chair in Vision Research and is Co-Director of the Paediatric Cornea Fellowship. Following an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, he completed his medical degree and residency training in Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto where he was Chief Resident. He then went on to complete dual fellowships in Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus and Cornea and External Disease at Washington University, St. Louis, USA. His clinical work and research focuses on complex anterior segment disorders in children including cornea, cataract, glaucoma and congenital abnormalities, with a special emphasis on corneal transplant and external disease. He has a strong interest in neurotrophic keratopathy (corneal anaesthesia) and is co-developer of the minimally invasive corneal neurotization procedure using sural nerve grafts.

Harminder Dua

Harminder Dua MBBS, DO, DO(London), MS, MNAMS, FRCS(Edinburgh), FEBO, FRCOphth, FRCP(Edinburgh, Hon.), FCOptom.(Hon.), FRCOphth.(Hon.), FAICO (India, Hon.), MD, PhD, is Chair and Professor of Ophthalmology at the Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham since 1994, Consultant Ophthalmologist, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Honorary Professor at Universita della Svizze, Lugano, since 2010 and Honorary Professor at the Research Institute of Ophthalmology, Cairo Egypt. He was made Commander of the most excellent order of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in her 2019 Birthday Honours list and served a full term as the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire (2021-22). He was also awarded the NHS Parliamentary Lifetime Achievement award for the Midlands, commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) in the Lieutenancy of Nottinghamshire and awarded the high rank of Commander of Merit of the Military and Hospitaller order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem (CMLJ). He was the Master of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress (2019-2020), President of several international organisations namely, Royal College of Ophthalmologists UK (2011-14), of EuCornea (2011-13), of the European association for vision and eye research (EVER, 2008), and of the EVER Foundation (2010-14 and 2016-2020). He was Editor in chief of the BJO (2007-14) and EuCornea Journal (2015-22). Among his over 150 awards and accolades are the Rotary Foundation Global Alumni Service to Humanity Award (2013), The Times Higher Education Award 2014 for ‘Research project of the year’ and the Melvin Jones Fellow (Award) Lions Clubs International Foundation for humanitarian work. He has been endowed with Honorary Fellowships of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists UK, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the College of Optometrists UK, and the Collegium of the All India Ophthalmological Society; the highest accolades conferred by the respective Colleges. One eponymous lecture, “The Dua Lecture” Birmingham, and a seminar room in the Nottingham post-graduate centre, “The Dua Room” are named in his honour. He has supervised 55 PhD/MPhil students, has over 500 publications with over 32000 citations and an H-index of 86 (Google scholar Feb 2025). His discovery of the pre-Descemet’s layer (Dua’s layer) in 2013, in the human cornea has had considerable impact on lamellar corneal surgery and corneal pathology.

Scott Hau

Scott Hau is a consultant and research optometrist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, where he has specialised in the diagnosis and treatment of microbial keratitis and inflammatory eye disease. With over 20 years’ experience leading the hospital’s confocal microscopy service, he is recognised for his expertise in anterior segment imaging and its role in advancing the care of complex corneal disease. His research focuses on anterior segment OCT and in vivo confocal microscopy, with particular emphasis on corneal infection and the evaluation of corneal nerves in systemic disease. In addition to his clinical and research work, he is deeply committed to education, providing specialist training in confocal microscopy to units across the UK and abroad.

Pedram Hamrah

Pedram Hamrah, MD, FRCS, FARVO, is a NIH-funded clinician-scientist with a focus on corneal immunology, ocular pain, ocular imaging (Immuno- and Neuro-imaging of the cornea), and ocular surface diseases. He received his medical degree from the University of Cologne in Germany, and performed his residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Louisville, where he was elected chief resident during his last year. He has completed fellowships in Ocular and Transplantation Immunology at the Schepens Eye Research Institute, Harvard Medical School, and in Ocular Immunology at the University of Louisville, as well as a two-year clinical fellowship in Cornea, External Diseases and Refractive Surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School. He is currently a Vice Chair of Academic Medicine, and a Professor of Ophthalmology at the Morsani College of Medicine, at the University of South Florida (USF), where he is the Co-Director of the Cornea Service and Director of Clinical and Translational Research. Prof. Hamrah has been directing both strong laboratory science and prolific clinical research programs, currently holding 3 NIH grant awards, in addition to numerous foundation and industry grants. Prior to joining USF, he spend over a decade at Tufts Medical Center, where he was Professor and Vice Chair of Research and Academic Programs, as well as Director of the Center for Translational Ocular Immunology and Co-Director of the Cornea Service at Tufts University School of Medicine, and on faculty at the Cornea Service of the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School for 7 years, where he was also the founder and director of the Ocular Surface Imaging Center. His research is focused on neuro-immune interactions, neuropathic corneal pain, and immune cell trafficking in immune and infections diseases of the cornea, as well as corneal transplantation tolerance and rejection. His clinical focus is on clinical and surgical ocular surface diseases, including neuropathic corneal pain and neurotrophic keratopathy. Prof. Hamrah currently serves on over a dozen editorial boards, is an associate editor for The Ocular Surface, Translational Vision, Science & Technology, Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, and Frontiers of Medicine (Ophthalmology), and section editor of the journal Eye. Further, he is ad hoc reviewer for over 70 journals and a regular grant reviewer for the National Eye Institute, FDA, US Army, and numerous national and international foundations. Finally, Dr. Hamrah has been continuously serving on the Members-in-Training, Professional Development and Education and the Ethics and Regulations in Human Research Committees at ARVO since 2003 and is currently an ARVO Gold Fellow, and received the AAO Senior Achievement Award.

Georgio Lambru

Dr Giorgio Lambru is a Consultant Neurologist at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London and Reader at King's College London. Dr Lambru is an internationally renowned expert in headache and facial pain conditions. He is one of the few neurologists in the UK who has been formally trained in headache and facial pain. Dr Lambru started his career studying Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan (Italy) and then trained in Neurology at the University-Hospital of Parma (Italy). Following this, he undertook a Clinical Fellowship within the Headache group at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery developing an interest in trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and cranial neuralgias. Dr Lambru subsequently obtained his PhD at the Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, with a study on trigeminal neuralgiform headache and facial pain disorders. Dr Lambru’s main interests are the diagnosis and treatments of headache and facial pain disorders. He set up a one of the few dedicated multidisciplinary headache and facial pain services in the UK at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, which benefits from the crucial collaboration of an excellent team of Pain specialists, Neurosurgeons, Oral surgeons, specialist nurses and psychologists. The Headache Service specialises in the diagnosis of complex disorders and in advanced and innovative treatments for patients who did not obtain any relief from traditional management approaches. These treatments cranial injectable, non-invasive neuromodulation, biologic treatments and neuromodulation surgery. Dr Lambru is actively involved in research clarifying the mechanisms underlying headache and facial pain and improving treatments for migraine, cluster headache, SUNCT/SUNA and facial pain disorders. He was the UK chief investigators and Principal Investigator of several clinical trials in the new migraine therapies with the CGRP monoclonal antibodies. He published over 50 research papers in eminent Headache and Neurology scientific Journals. He was the Co-Editor for a book in Neuromodulation in headache and facial pain and wrote chapters for Headache books. Primary headache conditions like migraine and cluster headache are unfortunately not fully understood by the medical field and the public, so raising awareness is pivotal in order to improve sufferers care, understanding and drive more research in the field. Dr Lambru is actively involved in organising awareness events for migraine, cluster headache and trigeminal neuralgia. Dr Lambru is a Council Member of BASH (British Association for the Study of Headache) UK, he is on the Medical board of the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association (TNA) and a lead Medical collaborator for the orofacial pain UK.

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