The UCL Institute of Ophthalmology is an institute within the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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 European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The institute conducts research and post-graduate teaching in the area of

ophthalmology Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

(the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye). The institute has a staff of around 200, including around 45

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

s, and cooperates closely with

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 ...

, which it is located adjacent to and with which it is a partner in the

National Institute for Health and Care Research The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is the British government’s major funder of clinical, public health, social care and translational research. With a budget of over £1.2 billion in 2020–21, its mission is to "im ...

(NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology. Together with Moorfields Eye Hospital, the institute is the oldest and largest centre for ophthalmic treatment, teaching and research in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

History

The Institute of Ophthalmology was officially opened in November 1948 as an ophthalmology training facility specialised in fundamental research. During the 1980s and 1990s the institute moved in a phased manner from its original location in Judd Street to its present site in Bath Street adjacent to Moorfields Eye Hospital. The institute merged with

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

in 1995, becoming the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Between 1995 and 2002 the institute expanded following the award of £8.8 million from the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

and eye-research charity Fight for Sight and £6.5 million from the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline. In April 2008 the results of the world's first successful gene transplant for blindness trial, carried out by a team at the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital, were published. In April 2009, the institute entered into a collaboration and license agreement with the pharmaceutical company

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

focused on gaining understanding into how to develop stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration. In the same month, details were published of the world's first stell cell based procedure for age-related macular degeneration, developed by researchers at the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital. In September 2010 the institute entered into a three-year agreement with the pharmaceutical company

AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...

to collaborate on the identification of new treatments for diabetic retinopathy using the regenerative capacity of stem cells. In August 2011 the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital were jointly awarded a Biomedical Research Centre for Ophthalmology by the National Institute for Health Research, supported by the award of £26.5 million over five years. In September 2011 a joint team from the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital received approval from the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to conduct a human embryonic stem cell therapy trial on patients with the incurable eye disease Stargardt. This was the first human stem cell therapy trial to receive approval from regulators in any European country.

Research

Research at the institute is currently focused around the following seven areas: *

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...

Gene therapy Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...

*Cell transplantation *Cell biology *Disease processes *Visual rehabilitation *How we see

Education

The institute currently offers the following postgraduate level courses: *MSc in Ophthalmology *MSc in Investigative Ophthalmology and Vision Science The institute also offers three- and four-year PhD programmes.

Library

The institute operates a joint library with Moorfields Eye Hospital, which is located at the institute. Access to the library for reference and study purposes is available to those working or studying at the institute or at Moorfields Eye Hospital. Membership of the library is available to staff and students of the institute and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and to staff and students of UCL and affiliated NHS Trusts.

References

External links