Peter Gordon Watson (30 April 1930 – 31 January 2017) was a British ophthalmologist, professor and researcher better known as the inventor of surgical procedure trabeculectomy. With John Cairns, in the 1970s, Watson developed

trabeculectomy Trabeculectomy is a surgical procedure used in the treatment of glaucoma to relieve intraocular pressure by removing part of the human eye, eye's trabecular meshwork and adjacent structures. It is the most common glaucoma surgery performed and all ...

, the most common form of surgery for

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

today. His 1977 textbook, ''The Sclera and Systemic Disorders'' (third edition published in 2012) is still considered the only comprehensive textbook on disease of the

sclera The sclera, also known as the white of the eye or, in older literature, as the tunica albuginea oculi, is the opaque, fibrous, protective, outer layer of the human eye containing mainly collagen and some crucial elastic fiber. In humans, and som ...

Biography

Peter Gordon Watson was born on April 30, 1930, in

Newport, Wales Newport ( cy, Casnewydd; ) is a city and Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. With a population of 145,700 at the 2 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the son of Ralph and Renée née Smith. He studied and trained in ophthalmology at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College London ...

, London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London and the Institute of Ophthalmology. Watson held several positions including president of the Academia Ophthalmology Internationalis, member of the International Council of Ophthalmology, Editor of ''Eye'' magazine, Founder and Chair of the Cambridge Eye Trust, and Deputy Hospitaller for the Order of St John of Jerusalem.

Personal life and death

Watson and his wife Ann have five children. He died on January 31, 2017, at the age of 86, due to

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

Contributions

With John Cairns, in the 1970s, Watson developed

, the most common form of surgery for

today. Watson's other contributions include research into the mechanisms of diseases affecting sclera and mechanisms for

corneal graft Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced it is known as penetrating keratoplasty a ...

rejection. He has authored or co-authored seven books, 18 chapters and 168 scientific papers. His 1977 textbook, ''The Sclera and Systemic Disorders'' (third edition published in 2012) is still considered the only comprehensive textbook on disease of the

. Peter Watson ran the

scleritis Scleritis is a serious inflammatory disease that affects the white outer coating of the eye, known as the sclera. The disease is often contracted through association with other diseases of the body, such as granulomatosis with polyangiitis or ...

clinic at

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...

in Cambridge and

Moorfields Eye Hospital Moorfields Eye Hospital is a specialist NHS eye hospital in Finsbury in the London Borough of Islington in London, England run by Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Together with the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, which is adjacen ...

in London.

Awards and honors

* APAO Jose Rizal International Medal 2012 * International Council of Ophthalmology's International Duke Elder Medal 2002 * International Council of Ophthalmology's Jules François Golden Medal 2014 * International Council of Ophthalmology's Jules Francois International Research Gold Medal * Moorfields Association lifetime achievement award * In his honor,

International Council of Ophthalmology The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is an international organisation that represents professional associations of ophthalmologists. It is headquartered in Brussels. The Board of Trustees is the executive body and operational arm of ...

initiated the Peter Watson Award in 2010 * Peter Watson International Scholarship is named after him * Peter Watson Memorial Lecture was started in honor of him

References

{{Authority control British ophthalmologists 1917 births 1993 deaths