Society President
Scott Fraser
Consultant Ophthalmologist, Sunderland Eye Infirmary, Sunderland, UK
Professor Scott Fraser is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Sunderland Eye Infirmary in the North East of England, Honorary Lecturer at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland. He was awarded his MD in the year 2000, and is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
Professor Fraser initially trained as an ophthalmologist at Newcastle, but completed his training at Moorfields Eye Hospital. His main area of clinical interest is glaucoma, which he studied as a research fellow during his time at Moorfields (looking into risk factors for late presentation of glaucoma) and later as the Friend of Moorfields funded researcher (looking at the genetics of glaucoma).
In addition to his expertise in glaucoma, Professor Fraser’s research interests also include communication of research to practitioners and patients. He has presented at more than 100 times at scientific meetings, published over 50 peer reviewed articles, written chapters for 7 textbooks and also co-written a manual for eye care. In addition to his published work, Professor Fraser sits as an Editor for the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group and as Editor in Chief of the international peer reviewed journal, Clinical Ophthalmology.
Steering Group
Andrew Dick
Professor Andrew Dick is Head of the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology and Head of Research for Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol. Clinically he is a consultant ophthalmologist and clinical lead in the South West of England and South Wales Ocular inflammatory service and vitreoretinal surgeon at Bristol Eye Hospital. He runs a very active research programme of laboratory based research and directs the clinical research unit at Bristol Eye Hospital. Previously co-editor of British Journal of Ophthalmology and remains actively involved on editorial boards of journals.
Som Prasad
Mr Som Prasad, MS FRCSEd FRCOphth FACS is cataract and retinal surgeon, who specialises in micro-incision surgery and management of complex cases. He practises on the Wirral in centres equipped with state-of the-art technology suitable for diagnostics and a wide spectrum of eye surgery. The extreme precision of eye surgery was what attracted me to this speciality, and the more I do, the more I am fascinated by it,"
In 2008, in recognition of his contribution to ophthalmology, he received an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and was conferred a Fellowship of The American College of Surgeons. He initially trained in India, but later acquired further training in leading UK centres including the Oxford Eye Hospital, Wirral and Sheffield. Som is a regular faculty member at a number of major professional meetings such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the United Kingdom & Ireland Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons, the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
In 2008, in recognition of his contribution to ophthalmology, he received an Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and was conferred a Fellowship of The American College of Surgeons. He initially trained in India, but later acquired further training in leading UK centres including the Oxford Eye Hospital, Wirral and Sheffield. Som is a regular faculty member at a number of major professional meetings such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the United Kingdom & Ireland Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons, the European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons and the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.
Som prides himself in being a surgical innovator, has designed instruments, and regularly lectures on surgical technique across the world. For a full profile and contact details please visit his website at www.sight2020.co.uk
Peter Shah
Professor Peter Shah is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Honorary Professor of Glaucoma at the Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre, Heart of England Foundation Trust and Centre for Health and Social Care Improvement at the University of Wolverhampton.
His clinical interests include the surgical management of blinding glaucoma, juvenile glaucoma and glaucoma in the African-Caribbean community. He leads the "ReGAE" project [Research into Glaucoma And Ethnicity] which is a multi-disciplinary research program which aims to prevent avoidable glaucoma blindness in the diverse ethnic populations of the UK. Professor Shah has written 4 ophthalmology textbooks and has run many national and international glaucoma courses. In the UK he runs a national Glaucoma Surgery Course with the Royal College and the annual Birmingham Glaucoma Masterclass. He is a council member of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress. Professor Shah is also a participating member of "Sight for East Africa", which is a Birmingham-based charity which has a link with the Mount Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi.
David Steel
David Steel is a consultant ophthalmologist at Sunderland Eye Infirmary in the North East of England. He is a vitreoretinal surgeon with clinical interests in all aspects of retinal disease and complex cataract surgery. He holds an honorary senior lectureship at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and is Speciality Group Lead for the Northumbria Comprehensive Local Research Network (CLRN).
David is an exit examiner for Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO) and a member of the RCO Surgical Skills Faculty involved with courses on phacoemulsification and retinal surgery.
In addition to these duties, David leads the South of Tyne Diabetic Retinopathy Eye-screening Programme and is a member of the National External Quality Assessment (EQA) Team and Grading Group.
David joins the Steering Group to lead the development of the Equipment and Technology review section of the society website, which will be available very soon.
Updated 20.3.09