Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Peng Tee Khaw as its new director of research and development.  Professor Khaw will take up his new post in August 2008, succeeding Professor Roger Hitchings, who steps down in July. 

Professor Khaw, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, is Professor of Glaucoma and Ocular Healing.  He is also the director of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London. 

“I am delighted to have been offered the opportunity to lead research and development at Moorfields,” says Professor Khaw.  “The UK is at the forefront of ophthalmic research in the world, translating basic science into better sight, and I look forward to enhancing this further in collaboration with other centres around the UK and partners including charities and industry. 
“This is an exciting time for research and development at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology following our designation as one of the first national biomedical research centres in December 2006.  Our new NIHR Biomedical Research Centre has given our joint site the opportunity to fast-track new innovations through to clinical use, an example being the world’s first ocular gene therapy trials.”

Commenting on the appointment, Moorfields’ chief executive John Pelly said: “I am delighted that Peng Khaw, with his outstanding record of achievement in biomedical research, has been appointed to this key post.  He will be a fitting successor to Roger Hitchings, who steps down as director of research and development after many years of excellent leadership and success in the role.”

Professor Khaw was also recently elected on to the board of trustees of the Association for Research into Vision and Ophthalmology.  His research interests include new surgical techniques, having developed the Moorfields safer glaucoma surgery system and new therapies to prevent ocular scarring, some of which are now in use in the UK and around the world.
He has published more than 350 papers, chapters and books including the ABC of Eyes – the most popular ophthalmology book in the UK for GPs and medical students.  He and his group have received many awards, including the first international ARVO USA Pfizer translational medicine prize in 2005 for developing basic laboratory discoveries through to several new clinical treatments and techniques.

ENDS

Notes for editors:

• Opened in 1805, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the world’s leading centres for ophthalmic treatment and teaching. With our research partner, the Institute of Ophthalmology, we are embarking on an exciting programme of research in order to find cures for diseases currently untreatable. It is the oldest and largest specialist eye hospital in the world, and became one of the UK’s first NHS Foundation Trusts in 2004.
  
• The entire range of eye diseases is treated at Moorfields Eye Hospital from cataract, corneal and retinal conditions to complex diseases, and last year over 260,000 patients were treated. Our eminent reputation means that patients come to us not only from all over the UK, but from around the world.
  
• More information about the hospital can be found at www.moorfields.nhs.uk
  
• UCL Institute of Ophthalmology is one of a number of specialised research centres at UCL (University College London) and is, together with Moorfields Eye Hospital, one of the leading centres for eye research.  The Institute scored 5*A  (the highest possible rating) in the last Research Assessment Exercise and is committed to a multi-disciplinary research portfolio that furthers an understanding of the eye and visual system, linked with clinical investigations targeted to specific problems in the prevention and treatment of eye disease. The combination of the Institute’s research resource with the resources of Moorfields Eye Hospital, which has the largest ophthalmic patient population in the Western World, opens the way for advances at the forefront of vision research.