Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology

Vision is our most precious sense. The national and global impact on quality of life and the cost of visual impairment and blindness is massive. Our international survey showed people value their vision far higher than any other sense. As we age, every person is likely to be affected by an eye disorder at some stage of their life.

Our Biomedical Research Centre s ambition is to change lives by preserving sight, driving equity through innovation, particularly for those in greatest need . The Moorfields-UCL partnership is ranked number one in the world for ophthalmology research.

Following our leading role in a national patient-driven consultation for vision research priorities by the NIHR-James-Lind-Alliance, we continue to embed patient and public groups on all research strategies. We have co-created the following strategic goals: 1.

Make a major impact on common and rare blinding disorders including age-related-macular-degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, and those affecting young people that lead to life-long visual impairment to reduce large disparities in life opportunities. 2.

Develop novel ways to detect and predict individuals who are at risk of losing vision and start preventative measures earlier.

Develop innovative techniques for assessing eye health in home, community and hospital settings to streamline, speed delivery and availability of eyecare, particularly for chronic disease, through digital innovation. 3.

Build on previous success using massive datasets including imaging, health records and genetics, and use artificial intelligence approaches to discover new information about what causes eye diseases and how to best prevent, minimise or treat them in individuals. 4.

Continue to research and discover molecular, cellular and tissue functions in the eye including blood vessel, inflammatory and nerve processes.

Disturbances in these systems underlie most causes of blindness and general diseases and further understanding will lead to better diagnosis and treatment of both. 5.

Continue our previous successes in developing new and improved types of treatment by innovating with gene- and stem-cell therapy, antibodies, laser, and micro-devices, some of which regenerate ageing/diseased tissues.

Some may take minutes to administer and are specifically designed to treat common eye conditions with a single treatment with benefit lasting years. By pursuing these goals, we will: Build on the scale and success of our world leading research partnership.

Continue growing collaborations with universities, hospitals and industry to build a national approach for the prevention of vision loss, across the UK for those in need.

Improve people s eye and general health and the country s economic wellbeing by increasing commercial activity including successful spin-out companies creating investment and jobs in the UK. Our patients and NHS/University staff are at the heart of everything we do.

We will train and support researchers from diverse backgrounds, including new digital technologies and advanced therapies.

We will build an even stronger culture of collaboration, underpinned by the opening of a new national centre for advancing eye health; ORIEL, a £500million joint Moorfields-UCL national eye centre, where our aim to deliver sight for all through innovations in eye health can be realised sustainably.