Moorfields International refractive symposium

The Moorfields International refractive symposium covers contemporary vision correction surgery to surgeons in the UK and around the world.

We are delighted to welcome our keynote guest speakers for 2026:

Professor Jesper Hjortdal, Aarhus University, Denmark

Professor Oliver Findl, Vienna Hanusch Hospital, Austria

The symposium will take place at The Cavendish Conference Centre, 22 Duchess Mews, London W1G 9DT.

Symposium Overview

The symposium has been developed with the purpose of teaching how to approach vision correction patients, learning the options available including laser and non-laser refractive surgery. Attending this symposium will give you the confidence in offering your patients the best possible modern vision correction. It will also cover key themes for surgeons in training to understand refractive surgery in preparation for the CertLRS RCOphth (UK) and FEBOS-CR ESCRS exams.

Lectures from world leading experts and interactive discussion will enable in-depth learning for all attendees. All lectures will be based on the most up-to-date medical evidence and safe practice, unbiased from marketing and commercial interests. The symposium aims to cover the different approaches to patients’ management of refractive errors detailing the different laser modalities (Femto-LASIK, surface ablations, KeratoLenticule Extraction), as well as refractive lens exchange with discussion of the most advanced IOL implants, including presbyopic correction.

The symposium will cover several hot topics such as ocular surface evaluation and management before and after vision correction surgery, modern corneal tomography and anterior segment evaluation with the CSO MS39 for laser vision correction surgery, ICL and refractive options for irregular corneas such as keratoconus.

The Moorfields International refractive symposium aims to cover the different approaches to the management of refractive patients along with how they might be implemented in best practice.

Symposium faculty

The symposium is led by the Moorfields Corneo-Refractive Department including Professor Bruce Allan, Mr Vincenzo Maurino, Mr Daniel Gore and colleagues.

This symposium is generously supported by Thea Pharmaceuticals, enabling us to offer a great ticket price to you.

Book Now

Date	Location	Time	Seats	Price
18 April 2026	Cavendish Conference Centre, London	Consultant 08:30 - 17:45		£200.00
18 April 2026	Cavendish Conference Centre, London	Trainees, Nurses & Optometrists 08:30 - 17:45		£100.00

Course fees

Taught by

Vincenzo Maurino

Vincenzo Maurino is an Italian-British ophthalmologist who is a Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist and Director of the Cataract Services at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. He is also Visiting Professor for Corneal and Refractive surgery at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. His special areas of specialist interests are cataract surgery and corneal surgery as well as refractive surgery. He graduated with magna cum laude in Italy and after a four-year ophthalmology residency, he won a scholarship to move to London to further his surgical ophthalmic training at the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital. At Moorfields Eye Hospital he completed fellowships in paediatric ophthalmology, glaucoma, cataract, refractive surgery, and corneal transplant surgery. Vincenzo Maurino research interests are in the fields of cataract and corneal refractive surgery, and he has published in several peer reviewed international journals. He has been invited to lectures nationally and internationally. He served on the scientific committee of the Italian Society of Ophthalmology (SOI) for longer than a decade and on the board of the SICCSO (The International Society of Corneal, Stem Cells and Ocular Surface). He was awarded the SOI Medal Lecture in 2016 and invited to give the Cataract Update Lecture at the RANZO Congress in 2023 to mention few. He received the title of Officer of the Order of “The Star of Italy” by Mr Sergio Mattarella, the President of Italy, in 2015. He is passionate about surgical training and has trained hundreds of eye surgeons from all over the world in cataract and corneal surgery and he regularly holds training surgical courses nationally and abroad. Outside work, he enjoys sport and especially running, tennis and skying. Professional activities include NHS practice specialising in cataract, refractive and corneal surgery. Private practice specialising in refractive surgery (laser vision correction, ICL implantation, lens surgery), cataract surgery and corneal graft surgery.

Dan Gore

Daniel Gore graduated from St. Mary’s Medical School, Imperial College London before undertaking resident ophthalmic training in London and a one-year fellowship at the university of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa with funding awarded by the Royal Society of Medicine. He completed 3 years specialist fellowship training at Moorfields Eye Hospital in advanced corneal and laser vision correction surgery, during which time he was awarded the prestigious Quality Care Award by Health Education England. Mr Gore spent two years as a research fellow at both the Institute of Ophthalmology and Imperial College London, during which time he investigated new laser eye surgery and cross-linking interventions for keratoconus as part of his doctorate (MD) from University College London. Building on this pioneering work, Mr Gore has lectured widely across the UK and overseas on developments in corneal cross-linking and safe laser treatments for keratoconus and other corneal ectasias, and is an opinion leader amongst colleagues. In 2019, Daniel Gore was appointed Director of Refractive Surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Bruce Allan

Professor Bruce Allan qualified in medicine from Cambridge in 1985, and was appointed as a Consultant Surgeon at Moorfields in 1998 after advanced specialist training in the UK, South Africa, and Australia. He was Training Director for the Corneal Service at Moorfields for over 10 years, and Service Director for Refractive Surgery from 2012 to 2019. He is currently chairing the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Refractive Surgery Standards Working Group and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Digital Health Special Interest Group. He is an ESCRS Council and EU Cornea board member. He and his wife, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Maria Teresa Casasus Borrell, live in North London with regular visits from their 3 daughters, Saskia, Sofia and Silvia. Outside work, He is a keen football fan and sailor. Professional activities include: • NHS practice specialising in cataract and corneal surgery • Private practice specialising in refractive surgery (laser vision correction, ICL implantation, RLE, restoring near vision) • Regular presentations at international research meetings, press, radio and television comment on developments in corneal transplantation, cataract and refractive surgery • Peer review for international medical journals and research grant funding bodies • Specialist advice for NICE and MHRA Current research interests include: • Applications of Deep Learning to anterior segment eye disease • Enhancing treatment accuracy in laser vision correction • Laser assisted corneal transplantation • Early intervention and visual rehabilitation in keratoconus.

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.

Laura de Benito-Llopis

Ms Laura de Benito-Llopis is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon specialising in cornea, cataract and lens and laser refractive surgery. Ms de Benito completed her ophthalmology residency in Madrid, Spain, and was fellowship trained in cornea, lens and laser eye surgery in Madrid and at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. She was awarded a PhD with honours for her thesis on corneal wound healing and the use of mitomycin C in laser eye surgery. She spent 6 months as a clinical associate at the Singapore National Eye Centre in 2011. She worked at the Anterior Segment department at St Thomas’ Hospital from 2012 to 2016, and then was appointed substantive consultant in the Cornea and External Disease department at Moorfields Eye Hospital in October 2016. She moved her private practice to OCL Vision in 2021. Ms de Benito-Llopis is the clinical lead for the graft database and the Moorfields Eye Bank, and has been awarded a Clinical Excellence Award in recognition for her work in developing a system to track the outcomes of corneal transplant surgery.

Marcello Leucci

Marcello is joint lead optometrist of the Keratoconus service at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He is responsible for the development of protocols for keratoconus monitoring and progression criteria and is actively involved in research and service development focused on patient pathways, emerging corneal tomography technologies, AI‑enabled progression algorithms, and the effectiveness of new and established treatments for the condition. He is also Chief Clinical Information Officer (CCIO) at Moorfields, working within the Digital Clinical Services Division to ensure that digital systems and clinical information solutions are clinically led, safely implemented, and optimised to support effective, data‑driven patient care, while aligning clinical practice with organisational and strategic digital objectives. He sits on the National OpenEyes Committee and the Clinical Design Authority, contributing to the continuous improvement of the ophthalmology electronic patient record, including work on adoption and use of openEHR standards to support structured clinical data, semantic interoperability, and long‑term reuse of ophthalmic information across care, research, and innovation.

Alfonso Vasquez-Perez

Alfonso Vasquez-Perez is a consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital and is the lead for the Osteo-Odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP) Service; a highly specialised treatment for corneal blindness provided only in few centres around the world. His areas of expertise includes corneal surgery, keratoprosthesis (KPro), cataracts and refractive surgery. He took his initial training in Barcelona and later he completed two advanced sub-specialist training fellowships in Cornea and Refractive Surgery in the UK, first in Brighton and then at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He was awarded the Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) and he is one of the few UK surgeons who also obtained the Certification in Cataract and Refractive Surgery from The European Board of Ophthalmology (FEBOS-CR). As a consultant surgeon at Moorfields has trained many surgical fellows from the UK and all over the world and frequently present his research work in national and international conferences. His publications include 3 book chapter and over 40 articles in ophthalmic journals.

Jesper Hjortdal

Jesper Hjortdal graduated from Aarhus University in 1987 and was clinically trained in Denmark and at Moorfields Eye Hospital, UK (2000-2001). In 1991-1992 he was Visiting Research Associate at Stanford University, working together with David Maurice. His research focus has mainly been on corneal optics & biomechanics, corneal transplantation, corneal banking, and refractive surgery. He became Senior Consultant at the Department of Ophthalmology, Aarhus University Hospital in 2001 and was appointed Clinical Professor in Corneal and Refractive Surgery at Aarhus University in 2009. He was one of the first European corneal surgeons to perform SMILE surgery in 2011 and his group has published +20 papers on the efficacy and safety of this technique. In 2009 Jesper Hjortdal also became Medical Director & Responsible Person for the Danish Cornea Bank located at Aarhus University Hospital which for the past 10 years has been able to provide Danish patients in need for a corneal transplant with donor tissue collected in Denmark. Jesper Hjortdal is past president of the Danish Ophthalmological Society, the European Eye Bank Association, and EuCornea and has been Board member and Head of the Research Committee in ESCRS. Currently he is Secretary of EU EYE, Trustee for EuCornea, co-editor of Acta Ophthalmologica and Current Eye Research and head of the drafting group for Ocular Tissues in the Guide to the quality and safety of tissues and cells for human application published by the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM). Privately he joins his spare time with wife, Vibeke (Paediatric Cardiac Surgeon and Professor in Congenital Heart Surgery), two children and four grandchildren.

Oliver Findl

Oliver Findl is Professor of Ophthalmology and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria. He is the founder and head of the Vienna Institute for Research in Ocular Surgery (VIROS). After completing a research fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston, he undertook his residency and an anterior segment surgery fellowship at the Medical University of Vienna. He subsequently served for several years as a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. His research focuses on optical biometry, presbyopia-correcting intraocular lenses, posterior capsule opacification, pathogenesis of myopia and intra-operative OCT use in vitreoretinal surgery. He has authored more than 400 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, which have been cited more than 25,000 times and have resulted in an h-index of 87. He was President of the ESCRS in 2022 to 2023, and is Treasurer of the Austrian Ophthalmological Society since 2010. Among numerous invited lectures, he delivered the Lim Lecture at APACRS in 2016 and the Binkhorst Lecture at ASCRS in 2018.

David Gartry

David Gartry was appointed consultant to the Corneal, Cataract and Refractive Services, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London in 1995 and professor to The School of Health Sciences, City, University of London (hon), in 2006. He was Director of the Refractive Service at Moorfields from 2007 to 2013. Having attained a first class honours degree in Optometry in 1978, he then read Medicine at University College London, graduating in 1984. His early ophthalmology training and research was at St Thomas' Hospital, London, where, in November 1989, working with Professor John Marshall and Dr Malcolm Kerr Muir, he became the first surgeon in the UK to perform excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). He was awarded the higher degree of Doctor of Medicine from London University in 1995 for his doctoral thesis entitled "The development of excimer laser corneal surgery", has authored numerous scientific papers and book chapters and co-edited three textbooks. He is past president of The British Society for Refractive Surgery (BSRS), a member of The Royal Institution of Great Britain, an examiner and advisor to The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and an Honor Award recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 2010 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science from his alma mater, Glasgow Caledonian University, "In recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science of Ophthalmology", and a Lifetime Fellowship of the College of Optometrists in 2013. To date, he has performed over 15,000 cataract and refractive lens procedures (latterly using the femtosecond laser - FLACS) and over 30,000 laser refractive procedures. He is the founder and owner of The Wimpole Eye Clinic, London W1 and in 2007 he was entered into the 159th edition of "Who's Who".

Sheraz Daya

Sheraz Daya is the Medical Director of Centre for Sight. Recruited from New York, USA in 1993, Mr Daya was Director and Consultant at the Corneoplastic Unit and Eye Bank, Queen Victoria Hospital. Mr Daya transformed the Corneoplastic Unit and Eye Bank, acquiring an international reputation for excellence in Corneal surgery and resigned from the NHS in 2011. Mr. Daya is a key opinion leader for the ophthalmic industry and is highly regarded nationally and internationally. He serves on numerous boards and committees and is also the founding Chief Medical Editor of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today. He is regularly invited to speak at international conventions and meetings and is known as for many innovations in ophthalmology. Mr. Daya was recognised for his leadership by winning the award “Leadership in Improvement” of the Best of Health Awards 2009, South East England. He has also been awarded the highly prized Senior Achievement Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (2009) for his contribution to Ophthalmology and the American Academy.

Sundas Maqsood

Miss Sundas Maqsood is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital with specialist expertise in cornea, ocular surface disease, and refractive surgery. She has a strong interest in complex dry eye disease, keratoconus, corneal transplantation, neurotrophic keratopathy and advanced ocular surface therapies. She is a committee member of the UK National Ocular Tissue Advisory Group and is currently leading the development of a virtual cornea and ocular surface disease pathway at Moorfields, utilising advanced anterior segment diagnostics and imaging to support personalised treatment planning.

Return to Catalogue