INSTITUTE OF OPHTHALMOLOGY

UCL Institute of Ophthalmology – IoO 2019 – 2020 Annual Review “Poetic connectivity” by Dimitra Kopsini.

Contents 4 14-15 Our Mission and Vision Operations support services, Estates and Sustainability Who we are

We are an institute within UCL, London’s global university, proud of its disruptive 5 thinking and commitment to solving the world’s most pressing challenges. UCL is From IoO Director, 16 ranked eighth in the QS 2020 World University Rankings and rated as the top UK Professor Andrew Dick EDI at the IoO University by research strength. As an institute within the Faculty of Brain Sciences at UCL, our principal strategic partner is Moorfields Eye Hospital, the leading provider of eye health services in the UK and one of the oldest eye hospitals in the world. Together we have a National 6-7 17 Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Moorfields BRC), At a glance IoO networking meetings and events enabling translation of our fundamental scientific innovation. We work with education institutions and hospitals around the world to help raise teaching standards and train the next generation of researchers and vision health experts who can make a difference to the lives of millions of people around the world. Our students come 8-11 18 from over 150 countries and, according to the 2017 Centre for World University Our research Our international partnerships: Rankings, we are the best place in the world to study ophthalmology. a snapshot

All photos at UCL IoO by Anton Webb, unless 12-13 otherwise stated. Cover Education and student 19 photo by Jane Clipston. experience Oriel 4 5

lecturers. Studies and papers from our research work were covered by the national and the international media. We established and consolidated important professional collaborations and strategic partnerships: with Santen, Singapore Eye Research Institute (Seri), and the International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER). The number of IoO Principal Investigators (PIs) holding UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships is now three, and we are looking forward to the appointment of the inaugural Moorfields Eye Charity Chair in Advanced Ocular Imaging, partnered with UCL Department of Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering and UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. This year we were awarded Gold for both Green Impact office award and LEAF Awards for sustainable laboratories, at UCL’s Prof Andrew Dick 2020 Sustainability Awards. Having UCL IoO Director quickly adapted to the virtual learning environment, we were able to deliver a successful annual lecture, attracting more than 100 participants. In order to From IoO Director, recognise the high quality of academic, teaching and collegiality activities at the Professor Andrew Dick institute, we held our annual IoO day virtually, and announced the winners of The unexpected challenges we all students and partners at the institute. this year’s awards. To support our staff have faced in recent months as a We adapted remarkably well to virtual during a challenging period following result of the Covid-19 pandemic have meetings, managing to maintain activity the pandemic, we adapted our core Our Mission Our Vision impacted everyone’s life. They have also and connectedness. We expanded our hours-based system for meetings, and uncovered opportunities and areas for virtual seminars and symposia facilities launched a Mental Health hub on the To deliver research and education in We work to bring out our translational development and expansion. At the IoO, to increase our networking and give staff IoO Intranet to make it easier for people vision and eye disease to benefit sight research to generate better therapies, together with our Faculty and the rest of and students the opportunity to share to find contacts and resources. UCL, we worked tirelessly this year to their work and interests. Education was Our core values remain at the heart of and society in the UK and worldwide. diagnostics and knowledge of eye care. ensure we could continue our teaching a beacon of our activity this year as what we do. This time of change has Our mission is to promote and expand the unique eye We do this by: and research activities to the best of our we launched new courses and brought afforded us opportunities to learn and to research and education that we provide, and to take that capacity. We established an executive opportunities for engagement in online shape the way we interact for the better, ■ Leading globally in Fundamental Research from our labs to patients and the rest of society. We aim COVID response team with our course development. in order for our research portfolio to ■ Producing high-impact research for society and patients to establish collaborative networks across England to Deputy Directors and representatives We received over £8 million in research continue to carry a high level of impact, ■ Fostering inclusivity, enterprise and innovation harness the strength of the knowledge and research base of academic and operational staff, grants, and we were one of a few and for our teaching to maintain its high ■ Equipping students with knowledge, skills and boldness across the country. Our close partnership with Moorfields meeting weekly to respond to needs institutes within UCL to reopen at limited standards. This next year promises to be to succeed Eye Hospital means that we can realise this vision, ‘from and make decisions swiftly as we capacity in July to drive our research just as remarkable as we welcome more bench to bedside’ in a seamless way, where the research drew up plans for a phased re-opening work forward and get ready for the new students than ever before to the IoO. is also aimed at clinical applications and where clinical Our Core Values of our building. Many key workers academic term. Our student numbers Going forward we will continue to strive requirements shape the research. Thanks to this strategic ■ Collaboration committed to maintaining our facilities have grown massively compared for a fair institute, working with Faculty partnership, we offer a number of joint degree programs. ■ Inspiration so we could be fit for purpose on our to 2018-2019, and our international to better support staff and students. For our students, this means access to innovative facilities, ■ Integrity return. We introduced a regular weekly partnerships continue to bloom. We had This Annual Review highlights some of connection to a growing network of peers, and support ■ Support communication in the form of a weekly a great round of promotions, appointing, the magnificent work we achieved in the from highly experienced and professional tutors. ■ Opportunity bulletin reaching nearly 700 in all staff, among others, four new non-clinical 2019-2020 academic year. 6 7

HR data New staff starters: 51 51 Staff leavers: 51

Senior Promotions (effective from 1 October 2020)

staff promoted honorary staff from honorary staff from to Professor Moorfields promoted Moorfields promoted Maryse Bailly to Hon Clinical to Associate Professor 2 Mariya 3 Professor 2 (formerly Reader) Moosajee Daniel “Frank” Larkin Dawn Sim Stephen Tuft Adam Dubis Ananth Viswanathan

staff promoted to Associate honorary staff from Moorfields promoted Professor to Professorial Teaching Fellow At a glance 1 Tessa Dekker 1 Narciss Okhravi Grants received Total amount awarded Junior Promotions Professional and Support Staff regrading Charu Reddy James Wyles Total number of staff to Senior Research Fellow Laboratory Laboratory Safety & Management grants received 43 £8,609,129 1 Helen Baker Manager Support Technician Funding bodies

Akari Therapeutics Plc National Eye Research Centre First all-staff meetings AMS The Academy of Medical Sciences NIH National Institutes of Health first-time processes First PS&T staff meetings organised BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Retina UK introduced with Equality Challenge Team Research Council 7 First shared mailboxes Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. BHF British Heart Foundation First targeted staff group mailing lists Thomas Pocklington Trust First IoO weekly bulletin EMBO European Molecular Biology Organisation UCLTF UCL Technology Fund First institute online calendar on the intranet Fight for Sight First operations support survey UKRI UK Research and Innovation Macular Disease Society (formally Innovate UK)

Moorfields Eye Charity Wellcome Trust

MRC Medical Research Council 8 9

Building research capacity Research highlights Our research In 2019-2020, we have built our research capacity aligned with our increase in our Our researchers have published their The UCL Institute of Ophthalmology conducts educational suite of courses. In addition to one further UKRI future leader fellowship groundbreaking studies in internationally and two personal fellowships, we welcome four new non-clinical lecturers, renowned peer-reviewed journals. pioneering science and attracts researchers increasing our depth of investigation in molecular genetics, developmental biology Highlights in 2019-2020 include and stem cell biology. publications in Science, Nature, Nature

of the highest international calibre. Alison Hardcastle Prof Medicine, American Journal of Human Our research teams are led by 56 Principal Investigators (PIs), bringing together Genetics, Genetics in Medicine, Nature expertise to transform our understanding of vision, by investigating the mechanisms Communications, The Lancet, New underlying function and dysfunction, and developing new therapeutic approaches. England Journal of Medicine, Nature We provide evidence for improving health outcomes, in areas ranging from genetics 89 46 Biomedical Engineering, Nature 56 PhD Academic 2 and stem cells to clinical trials, data informatics and psychophysics. Genetics, Cell, and Proceedings of the PIs students Staff Fellows Our joint research strategy with Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). is supported by our Biomedical Research Centre status that enables fundamental Between September 2019 and August discovery research to be rapidly translated to delivery of new diagnostic methods 2020 we published 372 papers. and therapies into the clinical setting. 11 Emeritus 1 9 Professors FRS FMedSci Our inter-related research themes are:

■ Development, Ageing and Disease Biological advances and understanding mechanisms ■ Rescue, Repair and Regeneration Evolving therapies and clinical trials A few studies that made the news ■ Visual Neuroscience and Function Understanding vision and population data science

These themes explore interdisciplinary aspects of our core AI system to predict “wet” age-related macular degeneration (AMD) translational mission of understanding vision, disease and developing therapies. Research grant Researchers at UCL IoO and Moorfields Eye Hospital developed an artificial intelligence system that can help predict whether people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) will develop the more serious form of the condition in their ‘good eye’. awards Research funding

As of September 2020, six PIs hold Wellcome Trust Investigator Awards, two hold Wellcome Trust Clinical Career Development Fellowships, and with recent success, three hold Increased alertness may change the way we see the world UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships: after Dr Alice Davidson, this year we added Dr Pearse Keane, and we are excited about A study led by IoO’s Dr Sylvia Schröder discovered that the activity of neurons within the retina changes when we are running or Dr Anthony Khawaja’s having been announced for 2020- when our alertness increases. 2021. In the last year we were awarded more than £8 million in research grants from a variety of funding organisations to support our translational research, including Research Council Moorfields ye Charity funding, grants from charitable organisations and biotech New gene therapy approach may offer a new treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) MRC Medical Research Council partnerships. We receive considerable support in areas of UKRI UK Research and Innovation formally Innovate UK infrastructural, career development, PhD studentships and A study co-led by IoO Professor Michael Cheetham shows that gene therapy might be a good approach for X-linked RP and BBSRC Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research springboard awards, from Moorfields Eye Charity. that mini-retinas can be used to study other forms of inherited blindness. Council UCLTF UCL Technology Fund Retina UK MB uropean Molecular Biology rganization AI used to test very early signs of glaucoma progression Santen harmaceutical Co., Ltd. Akari Therapeutics lc A study led by Professor Francesca Cordeiro presents a new test that can detect glaucoma progression 18 months earlier than Fight for Sight AMS The Academy of Medical Sciences the current gold standard method. Macular isease Society Thomas ocklington Trust BF British eart Foundation Wellcome Trust National ye Research Centre NI National Institutes of ealth 10 11

A selection of the awards Partnerships received by our researchers Our success is underpinned by establishing strategic collaborations, as well as spin-off or partnerships which Omar Mahroo receives Rising Star have joint commercial and/or reputational implications that of the Year award from the Macular Oct 2019 raise the profile of ophthalmic research at UCL and boost Society for his contribution to interdisciplinary skills and knowledge. providing services and care for people with macular disease. In 2019-2020: ■ We established strategic partnership with the newly formed Professor Gus Gazzard and the team International Centre for Translational Eye Research (ICTER, delivering the LiGHT trial win an Poland). Our goals and ambitions are aligned, particularly Dec 2019 award from the International in imaging at different levels of resolution, from single Glaucoma Association (IGA) for molecules to the entire architecture and function of the eye. excellence in glaucoma care. Our institute Director Professor Andrew Dick and Deputy Director Research Professor Alison Hardcastle are chair and member of the International Scientific Committee of Julio Corral Serrano wins a prize for the ICTER, respectively. best conference poster at French-UK ■ Jan 2020 PanAngium Therapeutics, the IoO spin-out company derived Cilia Network Meeting. from the work of Professors John Greenwood and Steve ■ A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is in place with Moss, formalised its directorship and received seed funding Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) and Singapore Patric Turowski, Jui Hsein Chang from Albion Ventures, as part of their involvement with the Eye Research Institute (SERI), principally to build on IoO PhD candidate Sarah Houston at STEM & colleagues win the George Heller UCL Tech Fund. research infrastructure for AI, Big Data and health for Britain Poster competition. ■ Feb 2020 Award. In October Moorfields began its partnership with INSIGHT, service-related research. the Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health, which the IoO ■ Dr Ryan MacDonald was appointed IoO representative is supporting through the work of Dr Pearse Keane. for the Neuroscience Domain Steering Committee. Ted Garway-Heath receives Clinical ECR activities Excellence Awards from the Feb 2020 American Glaucoma Society and The IoO has its own dedicated early career researcher (ECR) the UK Advisory Committee. committee, comprised of PhD students and post docs. The community organises regular networking events such as: the ECR IoO Lates, where ECRs can practise talks in an informal IoO mentoring IoO PhD candidate Sarah Houston setting; the ‘My PI Story’ events, where junior PIs talk about The IoO mentoring scheme runs on a yearly basis, providing a mentor/mentee relationship for academic/research staff. wins top prize at STEM for Britain Mar 2020 their career development; the annual ECR Symposium, a This scheme is particularly recommended for final PhD year students, postdoc/fellowship-level researchers, and those who Poster competition. celebration of the research carried out at the institute; a ‘Meet need guidance to identify the next stage in their career. The IoO Mentoring team is run by Maryse Bailly, Maria Balda, Clare the directors’ event at least once a year where the ECRs can Futter, and Joe Smith. MSc IOVS student Dimitra Kopsini pose any questions they might have and meet our directors. has her ‘Poetic connectivity’ image, Occasionally we hold career events as well as networking Here is some feedback from the 15 mentees who took part in the 2019-2020 scheme: Apr 2020 produced during her research project event. Due to Covid-19, the ECR Symposium was held online at the IoO, selected as the UCL via Microsoft Teams. With talks from eight researchers, a My mentor has been great, very encouraging. My overall objective when we first met was to Neuroscience symposium 2020 keynote from Professor Matteo Carandini and a short talk from get into a position where I could continue an independent research programme. My mentor helped main image. the IoO PPIE award winner, this year’s symposium had 70-90 me set up a clear vision for lectureship applications, provided invaluable advice about developing people logged in to the talks on each of the three days. future research plans and gave feedback on my job applications. I am now looking forward All attendees were encouraged Professor James Bainbridge is to starting a lectureship position at the Institute of Ophthalmology in August. to provide lay abstracts about elected to the Academy of Medical their work, which gave them Junior PI/Fellow May 2020 Sciences Fellowship. practice at communicating to a wider audience. I am very happy with my mentor. We will My mentor has been very encouraging IoO PhD student Siegfried Wagner In September, IoO Professor certainly keep meeting until the end of the about my goals and useful in helping me put is awarded funding via the UCL Mariya Moosajee was Aug 2020 scheme. I did benefit from the mentoring. things into perspective. I think it will help me Train and Engage scheme for a appointed Academic Lead for I received great advice from my mentor and in the long term as I transition from PhD project impacting communities the Early Career Researcher good psychological support. I think I will to a new job. at UCL and beyond. Committee alongside keep benefit from our interaction. Final year PhD student Associate Professor Jacqui Prof Mariya Moosajee van der Spuy. Postdoc/research associate 12 13

Education and student Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) results experience

The past year has been exciting while also filled with Nora Colton Prof 83.6% 95.9% 83.2% for Overall satisfaction as a department. would recommend UCL for our for Teaching and Learning. challenges and opportunities. We have continued to This score increased from 72.4% programmes to a prospective student. pursue our joint education strategy at pace. in 2019, and compares to a UCL average of 79.7%. Health education is experiencing a by participants from all over the world dramatic realignment in response and featuring our pioneering researchers to the pandemic, especially around engaged in education: Paul Foster, Pete digital innovations. In partnership with Coffey, Marcus Fruttiger, Pearse Keane, Moorfields, we had already started Peter Thomas, Mandeep Sagoo, Tracy 79.7% 74.3% 62.8% thinking about how we could tap into the Luckett and Roxanne Crosby-Nwaobi. for Student Engagement. for Dissertation satisfaction. for Organisation and Management. virtual space for our education delivery. As part of the connected curriculum This score improved from 56.4% We kicked off the academic year with that we are developing, we worked not We saw a significant rise in our PTES in 2019. a successful conference entitled the only with staff but also with our students (Postgraduate Taught Experience “Digital ophthalmic student”. We had to ensure we are capturing their views. Survey) results, improving across most a learning technologist join our joint We applied for a UCL Changemaker of the categories. We not only increased education team to develop high-quality project grant called “EyeBelong”, which our numbers of students with the launch interactive online content. involved a series of focus groups with of new programmes and a novel degree We continued to build our international students to understand their journey apprenticeship, “Advanced Clinical 87.3% 77.7% 80.4% collaborations with two high profile trips of feeling a sense of belonging at the Practice in Ophthalmology”, but our for Learning resources. for Skill development. of our students participated in early in the academic year. A team led institute. This programme informs our students were engaged and pleased This score increased from 83%. This increased from 72%. the survey, which places us with by Nora Colton and including Jacqui induction in 2020-2021. with the offering. a 50% response rate above other van der Spuy, Sobha Sivaprasad, departments at UCL. Sanny Yuzhen Jiang, and Sarah Canning travelled to China as part of a joint seminar at Peking University on cultivating the future of ophthalmic Marcus Fruttiger has led on the launch of a Bioscience pivot their programmes and modules to remote delivery which education, building on the signing of an Entrepreneurship MSc programme, which has been well started at the end of term 2. We appointed two energetic and MOU between UCL IoO, Moorfields and received by students across the globe. Our “Advanced Clinical engaged Deputy Directors of Education: Marcus Fruttiger and the Peking University Health Science Optometry and Ophthalmology MSc” received a resounding Gordon Hay. As we welcome 200 students to our IoO and Centre. Nora Colton also travelled to endorsement with HEE commissioning ten places for students Moorfield learning community for the 2020/21 academic year, Shenzhen to visit the Shenzhen Eye from various Trusts. we continue to hold the ranking as the best place in the world Hospital and then to Singapore to the The education team continue to work very hard as they to study ophthalmology. Singapore National Eye Centre. They are strategic education partners of UCL IoO and Moorfields. Moorfields launched the education hub at Ebenezer Street, which is now the home of our joint education short ■ transform the teaching and learning of our faculty, clinicians, courses and emerging executive Our strategic education principles aim to: nurses, allied health professionals, postdoctoral researchers, education. It is a beautiful facility built ■ develop an excellent portfolio of degree programmes doctoral candidates and staff to grow our education and for the future with movable walls and that captures our reputation in both clinical practice and training capacities live streaming for events throughout the life sciences ■ explore innovative ways of engaging and educating society space. Although we had to pause our ■ ensure lifelong learning through an extensive range of through an online learning resource centre that offers an face-to-face short courses and summer short courses, and continuous professional and personal array of exceptional digital resources and opportunities schools this past year, we have moved development across our areas of expertise ■ revitalise the curriculum and our approach to education many into the virtual space and remain ■ manage the pipeline of volunteers, learners, students to create the best experience for our students posed to resume them in 2021. and trainees through diverse and inclusive education ■ build an interactive education space that supports To fill the desire for education and programmes innovation and flexible learning. training during the lockdown, we ran Team led by Nora Colton at Peking University. several successful webinars attended 14 15

Internal Operations support services, communications Estates and Sustainability We identified the need to improve the way we communicate internally IoO’s Operations support staff work to deliver the and with the wider world. The all-staff institute’s objectives by providing operational support meetings were introduced to foster a sense of cohesion within the institute, to staff and students. They bring efficient and effective enabling all staff to meet and receive services across many activities including research, updates directly from our leadership education and enterprise. team. The specialised termly meetings for Professional Services & Technical The Operations teams connect to colleagues across the faculty and central UCL Dr Wing-Chau Tung, IoO Institute Manager Dr Wing-Chau Tung, (PS&T) staff were brought in to provide services to meet UCL wider aims and ambitions. They also look after the wellbeing a platform specific for this staff group, of the IoO community and aim to improve the services offered by gathering to gather feedback and hold breakout feedback and maintaining a frequent dialogue with the members of the institute. sessions on different topics. Shared mailboxes and mailing lists were created to enable us to send targeted emails to Several changes were made this year to the way we operate at the institute: specific teams and staff groups. our staff and students on what we were intranet pages increased exponentially We used our display screens and doing to keep things running as smoothly this year, going from 2087 total page Finance and Research team COVID-19 Response the monthly newsletter until March as possible, as well as opportunities, views in 2018-2019 to 7036 total page structure There were many challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and national when COVID-19 impacted upon our wellbeing resources, event planning, views in 2019-2020. As this is an ■ We created the Finance and Research lockdown in March 2020 and all operations adapted and moved to remote working. operations and we moved swiftly from and other relevant news. This, combined internal resource, the drive was based Manager post and added a Finance The Lab Management and Environment and Safety teams worked closely with the in-person meetings to a complete with the monthly newsletter, helped us exclusively on internal communications, and Research Administrator role, PIs to make the institute buildings, particularly laboratory areas, safe for a complete remote service, facilitated by the full reduced institute email traffic. without relying on any external offered as a secondment. lockdown. This unprecedented action was achieved over a very short timeframe, adoption of Microsoft Teams. Most Our Communications team worked to advertising. of a few weeks. The teams worked with the Faculty, Estates and Safety services meetings and activities were either refresh the IoO Intranet to make it the Through the first ever IoO operations Education team structure to formulate the re-opening plans. We were then able to open at 25% capacity at postponed or adapted to run through central hub for all staff and students support survey conducted in August, end of June, before increasing to 50% capacity from September onwards. A new MS Teams including the annual IoO Day, to find the information they need, to we were able to collect feedback and ■ One of the Teaching and Learning mandatory online safety induction was put together for all building users to attend with the annual lecture and awards. improve workflows, communications suggestions for improving the services Administrators moved to the before they could return to work in the building. In support for staff during this time, We introduced the IoO Weekly Bulletin, and internal content management. we provided throughout the year, Administration team as one of the the HR and Finance and Research teams also worked with the PIs to implement the aiming to provide regular updates to all As a result of this, traffic to the IoO particularly during lockdown. Institute Administrators. furlough scheme to furlough eligible staff in accordance with UCL guidelines. ■ The Communications and Marketing Manager post was split into two positions: the student recruitment and marketing responsibilities were allocated to the Education Marketing Environment, Safety & Sustainability Manager, which is a joint-funded Here are some of the highlights from this year: post between IoO and MEH; internal and external communications We completed refurbishment of three labs on We were awarded funding for Mariya Moosajee and responsibilities were allocated to an third floor of Ashton Building to provide space Shin-Ichi Ohnuma’s labs on second floor additional part-time Communications for the new joint IoO/engineering research group. of Cayton St. Due to COVID, this project is now Manager post. Christiana Rhurberg’s research group moved into on pause. refurbished labs and offices. HR systems We completed redecoration projects in several We received Gold awards for both Green Impact offices. The HR team implemented the new office award, and LEAF Awards for sustainable UCL MyHR system in February 2020. laboratories at UCL’s 2020 Sustainability Awards, We refurbished and made teaching rooms within the through the work of our Sustainability team. porter cabins COVID-safe in preparation for the new academic year. We completed the ‘Target-100 – a tool for safety improvement’ baseline assessment with Safety We upgraded power installation points for Cortical Services, and formulated an action plan to improve Processing Labs in Cruciform Building and Pete health and safety within the institute. Coffey’s lab, Ashton 303. 16 17

EDI at the IoO IoO networking meetings and events Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is a We have been running internal Research Network Meetings, and a programme of core part of the IoO’s agenda to improve monthly lectures with guest speakers since the beginning of 2018 (coordinated by the working environment and culture for IoO Professor Astrid Limb), to promote networking, collaboration and engagement all students and staff. This is spearheaded as part of our academic activity. by our Equality Challenge Team. In 2019- Institute PIs nominate guest speakers all staff and students from UCL and However, we were very pleased to 2020 we appointed Professor Tim Levine from the world of ophthalmology Moorfields Eye Hospital. Unfortunately, be able to run the very successful as the first departmental Deputy Director to present their work and receive the lectures planned from March had annual award lecture online as part Prof Tim Levine questions from students and to be cancelled due to the pandemic of the IoO Day. for EDI in UCL. researchers. The lectures are open to and our adjustment to remote working.

The team’s mission is to engage with celebrates good employment practices and students at IoO. We published our all members of the IoO community to for women working in higher education professorial gender pay-gap (first in drive real cultural change, as well as and research. This year we increased UCL), showing that this has reduced 2020 IoO Annual lecture and IoO Day liaising closely with the Faculty Vice- the number of non-clinical women by 10%. As part of the response to the The IoO Annual Award Lecture was established in 2018 by IoO Dean for EDI, and EDI teams across academics to 43%. We continued to pandemic, we changed our core hours Director Professor Andrew Dick to honour scientists who have UCL. The team is also responsible for achieve gender-balanced postdoc to give everyone plenty of time around made outstanding contributions in the field of Ophthalmology the Athena SWAN application. The promotions and set up the IoO Race lunch without key meetings (12-2pm). and visual science. This year’s awardee was Professor Athena SWAN Charter recognises and Action Group to support BAME staff Justine Smith from Flinders University. Her lecture, entitled ‘Mechanisms of Ocular Toxoplasmosis’ was attended by over 100 people. Awards are also given to IoO and Moorfields/ IoO associated staff during the institute day to recognize academic, teaching and collegiality activities. A new award from the NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre was introduced this year to recognise excellence in Public and Prof Justine Smith Prof Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in research.

2020 IoO Awards

Research Excellence Teaching Award PPIE Award winner Award winner winner Young People’s Advisory Group The Eye-YPAG: Dr Louca-Mai Brady 1st 2nd 1st Jacqueline Miller Sylvia Schroeder Rena Chopra Dr Omar Mahroo Dr Annegret Dahlmann-Noor

Institute Award for Institute Award for Collegiality Exceptional Collegiality Facilities Management Team: Laboratory Facilitation Team

Adu Gyamfi Brobbey Lloyd Springer Abi Li James Wyles Collegiality Denis Lincoln Mervyn Davies Claire Cox Naheed Kanuga Award winners George Bradley Sean Fagan Gopi Damodaran JIll Cowing 18 19

Our international partnerships: a snapshot Oriel Plans for Oriel, the new integrated centre for eye care, research and education have progressed well

with a number of milestones being met during the oriel-london.org.uk academic year.

Oriel is a joint initiative between UCL IoO, increasing the scale and speed of Camden Council in October. A decision Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation progress from scientific discovery to is expected by the Council in early 2021. Trust and Moorfields Eye Charity. Subject clinical practice. This year’s consultation has to the necessary approvals, it would Following an extensive consultation demonstrated that IoO staff and see the IoO and Moorfields move from in 2019, formal NHS bodies gave the students recognise the benefits of being Islington to a purpose-built centre in green light to proceed with the next located in a flexible, integrated centre Camden’s Knowledge Quarter, a world- stage of planning for the new centre in with Moorfields. The new centre would class hub for science and innovation. February 2020. have the potential to transform teaching Under the proposals, existing IoO A further programme of consultation and learning by enabling IoO to widen services at the Bath Street premises got under way in August to seek its research portfolio and include patient would share the new purpose-built the views of IoO staff and students participation. centre with Moorfields on two acres alongside Moorfields patients, sight loss The 2021 academic year will be a of the St Pancras hospital site. This charities and Camden local residents particularly exciting phase, with IoO integration of research, education and businesses. Feedback on the early staff and students working with the Oriel and eye care would create a more designs of the new building informed design team to co-design the internal collaborative working environment, the planning application submitted to departments of the new centre.

Project ORIEL: proposed design

Prof Chieko Asakawa and Prof Shin-ichi Ohnuma at the Crick Institute. Photo by Kei Matsunaga.

Our partnership with Santen, a world- Japanese companies and universities. public lecture. The next day Professor leading ophthalmic pharmaceutical In October, Professor Ohnuma, our Asakawa came to the IoO to speak at company, is alive and vibrant. Santen director Professor Andrew Dick and UCL the international student conference, have been great supporters of UCL President & Provost Professor Michael SenSyT symposium 2019, as the main IoO with their PhD studentships, their Arthur went to Japan to visit Santen’s speaker. Professor Asakawa has been symposia, and new initiatives. With headquarters and meet with Shigeo instrumental in furthering accessibility one new studentship added this year, Taniuchi, CEO and the senior team. We technology research and development Santen are now supporting a total of will be renewing our prolific collaboration for three decades and she will be 9 students at the IoO. Our relationship with Santen and we are currently contributing to the accessibility work we over 2019-2020 has continued to grow discussing the next stages. need to do for Oriel. thanks to the ongoing work carried In December 2019 Professor Onhuma We established an international out by UCL’s Japan ambassador and organised a mini symposium at the strategic partnership with the newly IoO Professor Shin-Ichi Ohnuma. In Crick institute to discuss technological formed International Centre for addition to his work as Director of the advances and prospective therapies Translational Eye Research (ICTER, PhD programme of the Sensory System, to treat sight loss. IBM Fellow Poland), with whom we share the Technology and Therapies (SenSyT), and Carnegie Mellon University’s ambition to have a direct impact on Professor Ohnuma has worked over Distinguished Service Professor new therapies and diagnostics for many years to strengthen UCL’s ties with Chieko Asakawa was invited to give a visual health. Collaboration Inspiration Integrity Support Opportunity

www.ucl.ac.uk/ioo IoO.Commsucl.ac.uk UCL Institute of Ophthalmology 11-43 Bath Street London EC1V 9EL

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