Sir Peng T. Khaw

Director of Research at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) biomedical research centre (BRC) at Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London (UCL). Professor and Consultant Eye Surgeon. NIHR Senior Investigator Emeritus, London, UK

Profile

Since joining Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1987, Sir Peng Tee Khaw has amassed a wealth of awards, experience, and worldwide recognition for his clinical, research, education and philanthropic work.

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Research 

He became the director of the national ophthalmology translation centre (NIHR BRC) at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL IoO in 2007, the world’s most productive hospital-university site for eye research, leading advances in genomic discovery, cell, gene and new device therapies. He has led every successful competitive 5 yearly application for national core funding including the most recent awarded in 2022.(£81 Million total) and guided the linked national Clinical Research Facility grant.(£20 Million total) Ophthalmology is the only single speciality with its own NIHR biomedical research centre. This was critical as after 2009 all previous funding was removed from centers including Moorfields, and only 10 centers received significant core NIHR BRC funding which has kept Moorfields Research and Development viable and growing. 

Sir Peng led the proposal, presented and made the case for the inclusion of eye examinations including OCT in the UK Biobank with  Professor Paul Foster , the world’s largest biobank cohort. (118,000). This has led to nearly a hundred publications based on the eye data by many groups around the world and the identification of important roles of genes for glaucoma, myopia and retinal disease, new insights into wider areas like the correlation between cognitive loss and retinal measurements, the effects of pollution on the retina and the use of eye images to accurately predict systemic features like gender and blood pressure using artificial intelligence including key genetic discoveries in Nature Genetics. 

Sir Peng was part of the founder team with Google DeepMind led by Pearse Keane leading to one of the world’s most advanced retinal AI algorithms OCTane published in Nature Medicine (Most cited 1% of Nature Medicine publications). The funding from this initiative and the subsequent INSIGHT initiative infrastructurally only made possible by the NIHR BRC (>£10M) curated the world's largest image store of anonymised ophthalmic images  He has also been extensively involved innovating in glaucoma surgery, wound healing, new instruments, ocular pharmacology and stem cell discovery and development of treatment for  glaucoma (see innovations below) He has published over 600 papers, chapters and books. 

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Clinical expertise, Innovation and Progressing practice. 

Professor Sir Peng Khaw is a world leading glaucoma clinician and surgeon who has received and managed some of the most refractory adult and children's glaucoma from all over the world. He has developed improved techniques for glaucoma surgery. He designed the internationally used Moorfields Safer Surgery System principles including a new application technique for Mitomycin-c which has greatly reduced bleb-related complications and increased the safety of glaucoma surgery.  His antimetabolite application Khaw method was also critical in the successful development of the Preserflo microtube which is now widely used in the UK and Europe.  He proposed the 10-10-10 audacious goal challenge for glaucoma - intraocular pressure of 10 mmHg lasting 10 years, done in 10 minutes which is getting closer with a combination of a device and more effective anti-scarring strategies to provide a practical solution to the exponentially increasing burden of glaucoma worldwide, particularly in poor and developing countries, due to the rapidly aging population.

He has developed new surgical instruments (Khaw glaucoma surgical instruments and novel direct and indirect gonioscopy lenses (Ocular) anti-scarring drugs techniques and delivery systems. This includes refining the use of a single dose of beta radiation to prevent scarring and maximize pressure lowering, for which he researched and set the current dose of 10 Gy. A recent trial in Africa has shown 5:1 superiority over mitomycin-c for an intraocular pressure of <16 mmHG off medications. This therapy is now being developed into a novel single 30-second treatment, with a single source that could be used tens of thousands of times. A new adjustable drainage device is also being developed (BioChannelTM) as well as a novel pharmacokinetic eye model called the PK-EyeTM, together with   Steve Brocchini. to test new drugs and delivery systems.

Together with Geoff Raisman, Sir Peng jointly proposed the ‘energy’ theory of glaucomatous axonopathy, underpinning the current GMP production of a stem cell regenerative therapy for damaged optic nerves using the immortalized Muller cell that he and Astrid Limb discovered and named the Moorfields (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology-Muller 1 cell (MIO-M1 cell) with the company, Apollo Therapeutics and UCL Technology Fund. This has shown rescue of the nerve in experimental glaucoma and a Phase 1-2a clinical trial is planned. He is named on over 10 patents for different inventions.

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Teaching & mentoring

Professor Sir Peng Khaw has trained, supervised, and mentored 42 PhD students and 11 MD students and many more clinical fellows, 12 of whom are now leading Professors in the UK and internationally and also many consultants. He has participated in many training and mentorship schemes including the Integrated Academic Training Scheme with  Clinical Lectureships at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (14 posts), the Academy of Medical Sciences Mentoring Scheme (8 posts) and he obtained funding from the Wellcome Trust Laboratory Scheme for Ophthalmologist research training.

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Communication, Advocacy and Fundraising

Sir Peng is a passionate advocate of ophthalmology and research. When the first British President of ARVO his theme was research changing lives. He has raised over US$150 million for research and also clinical and research facilities, including as the main fundraiser for the Richard Desmond Children’s Eye Centre (£20 million Alternative Private Finance Initiative cost £60 million) and the NIHR Clinical Research Facility (£3.7 million) at Moorfields, which when built were the largest Eye research center (past clinical one room) and children's eye center (past one ward) in the world.  He was on the scientific committee of Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust advocating for Ophthalmology where the majority of the $85 million was spent on blindness prevention in the countries commonwealth reducing blindness in 11 million people with trachoma. He was part of and raised funding for Professor Matthew Burton's Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health published in the Lancet. He was part of the team helping the chief medical officers White paper NHS 2050 and derived the theme “equity through innovation “ to reflect the increasing needs of an aging population with limited resources. He chaired the WISH Health Foundation report on Eye Health for Lord Ara Darzi, including a worldwide survey over many continents which showed people around the world valued their vision far higher than any other sense (https://www.wish.org.qa/eye-health/) which also commissioned a YouGov survey which showed vision was by far the most important sense for people all over the world.

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Prizes and Peer esteem

He and his group have won some 25 awards and named lectures, which include the first international ARVO Pfizer Ophthalmic Translational Research Award; Alcon Research Institute Award US$100K; Sir Stewart Duke Elder Lecture & Medal, Royal College of Ophthalmologists; Doyne Lecture & Medal in 2018, Oxford Ophthalmological Congress; Lang Lecture & Medal, Royal Society of Medicine; the Dame Ida Mann Lecture, Oxford University; Ostbaum lecture, ASCRS; 25th anniversary Gold Medal Lecture of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society; Jubilee Lecture of the Swedish Medical Society, Hunterian Professorship at the Royal College of Surgeons of England; Bietti Gold Medal of the International Congress of Ophthalmology; the 2019 Peter Watson Medal, Cambridge Symposium.), the 25th Irving Leopold Lecture New York .
Sir Peng has been on the Times List of Britain's Top 100 Doctors for adults and children, and has been on every Ophthalmologist general list of the most influential ophthalmologists in the world since it began in 2014 (for which he was eligible). He was elected to the British Academy of Medical Sciences in 2003, and appointed as one of 200 UK NIHR Senior Investigators in all specialties. He achieved a Platinum clinical excellence award, which is the highest level from the NHS and was Knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2013, only the 2nd person for services to Ophthalmology in the last 100 years.

If we look at the scope of Sir Peng’s career, one major theme that binds all of his work – across research, teaching, and fundraising – is the sustained belief that we can have a significant clinical impact on glaucoma. We are delighted to welcome Sir Peng Tee Khaw into The Ophthalmologist Power List Hall of Fame.

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Awards, Honors and Named Lectures

1976 – David Millar Memorial Prize (Human Reproduction)
1979 – Leighton Prize (Ophthalmology)
1980 – Sutton Prize (Surgery)
1980 – Stanley Graveson Memorial Prize (Medicine)
1983 – Member, Royal College Physicians, UK 
1986 – Keeler Prize
1986 – Kodak Ltd Bursary Prize
1987 – Southern Ophthalmological Society Registrar’s Prize
1988 – Royal Photographic Society Video Prize
1993 - Royal College of Ophthalmologists/ Iris Fund Prize
1995 - Rogers Prize University of London - Prize awarded every two years for best research dissertation on "Advances in surgery"
1998 - Alcon Lecture Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists
1999 - Iris Fund Prize Lecture, Royal College of Ophthalmologists, UK
1999 - Hunterian Professorship and London Prize Lecture, Royal College of Surgeons, UK
2000 - First Hong Leong Professorship and Lecture, National University of Singapore
2000 - International Glaucoma Review Award for “best research paper in glaucoma worldwide”
2000 - Barbers Lecture, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow
2001 - 11th George Giles Memorial Lecture, College of Optometrists, UK
2003 - 12th Sir Stewart Duke Elder Lecture, Royal College of Ophthalmologists, UK
2004 - Featured in Britain’s Top Doctors, The Sunday Times
2004 - Winner Simfonec UK business challenge Icite company business plan to develop our MMP inhibitor patent
2004 - Janice Krushner Memorial Lecture Main, International Glaucoma Association, UK
2004 - 23rd Dame Ida Mann Lecture, Oxford University, UK
2005 - 19th International Lecturer, Ciba Vision, Japan 2nd Ostbaum Honor Lecture, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, San Francisco USA
2005 - First Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) /Pfizer Translational research award. (First major ARVO award to a UK ophthalmologist since 1960 award to Sir Stewart Duke Elder). “Presented for excellence in translational research, defined as the application of fundamental scientific discoveries and novel technologies to the development and testing of solutions leading to the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of eye disease.”
2005 - Richardson Cross Memorial Lecture, Southern Ophthalmological Society, UK
2005 - Jubilee Medal, Swedish Ophthalmological Society of Medicine, Sweden
2005 - American Academy Ophthalmology Achievement Award, USA
2005 - Goodwin Brenin Lecture and Visiting Professorship, New York University School of Medicine, USA
2005 - Alcon Research & Development Award for Scientific Excellence
2006 - Featured in Top Surgeons in London, London Evening Standard
2006 - 12th Lang Lecture and Medal lecture, awarded every three years, The Royal Society of Medicine, UK
2006 – 2nd Ostbaum Honor Lecture, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, San Francisco 
2007 - Keynote Lecturer, “Healing after Cataract and Glaucoma Surgery”, European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons
2007 - Best-in-Show award for “Advances in Trabeculectomy - Moorfields Safer Surgery System”, American Academy of Ophthalmology, New Orleans 
2007 - A*STAR Professorship, Asia-ARVO, Singapore2008 - Featured in Britain’s Top Doctors, Tatler magazine
2008 - Made “Ambassador” for contributions to eye research and fundraising, Fight for Sight Charity 
2008 - Gold Medal for Career Achievements, 25th Anniversary, King Khaled Eye Hospital and Saudi Arabian Ophthalmological Society, Saudi Arabia 
2008 - 2nd Swan Professorship and Lecturer, University of Oregon, USA
2008 – UK Platinum Clinical Excellence Award 
2009 - Inaugural Optometric Glaucoma Society Research Excellence Award & Lecture, USA
2009 - Pfizer Visiting Professorship and Lectures, New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, USA
2009 – American Academy of Ophthalmology Best Poster Award, USA
2009 – Senior Investigator, UK National Institute for Health Research
2010 - European Association for Vision and Eye Research Ophthalmic Research Award and Lecture, Greece
2010 - Featured in Britain’s Adult Top Doctors, The Sunday Times
2010 – Middlemore Lecture, Midland Ophthalmological Society, Birmingham 
2010 to date – President, UK Paediatric Glaucoma Society 
2011 - Arthur Lim Gold Medal Lecture, Singapore National Eye Centre
2011 - The Four Liveries’ Medal & Lecture, Worshipful, on behalf of the Spectacle Makers’ Company, London
2011 – ARVO Translational Lecture, Royal College of Ophthalmologists 
2012 - Featured in Britain’s Top Children’s Doctors and Britain's Top Doctors, The Times
2013 - Health Services Journal Top 50 Innovators List
2013 - Elected to Academia Ophthalmological Internationalis
2013 - Awarded a Knighthood by HM the Queen in her Birthday Honours June 2013
2013 - President, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
2013 – Senior Investigator, UK National Institute for Health Research (re-awarded)
2013 - The William Harvey Lecture, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London
2014 - Honorary Doctor of Science, Anglia Ruskin University
2014 – ARVO Gold Fellow Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 
2014 – ARVO Distinguished Service Award, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
2015 – Ali bin Shakar Prize Award and Lecture, Emirates Society of Ophthalmology
2016 – G B Bietti Gold Medal and Prize Lecture, International Council of Ophthalmology and supported by the Fondazione Bietti
2016 – 9th Champalimaud Lecture, LV Prasad Eye Institute, India 
2016 – American Glaucoma Society International Scholar Award
2016 – Claud Worth Medal and Lecture, British Isles Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Association (BIPOSA) 
2017 – Admitted to the Worshipful Company of Barbers & Given Freedom of the City of London
2017 – 39th Francisco Fantes Lecture, American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Interamericano Course in Ophthalmology (CURSO) 
2018 – 10th Annual Gerard Crock Lecture, The Centre for Eye Research, Australia
2018 – UK Platinum Clinical Excellence Award (reappointment) 
2018 – Asia Pacific Glaucoma Society International Recognition Award and Lecture
2018 – 102nd Doyne Medal and Lecture, Oxford Ophthalmological Congress
2018 – First Pantheo Eye Centre Foundation Lecture, Cyrpus 
2019 – World Glaucoma Association Special Recognition Award
2019 – Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Foundation Honour Award
2021 - Honorary Fellowship of The Royal College of Ophthalmology
2021 – 2022 – Master, The Oxford Ophthalmological Congress
2022 – 25th Annual Irving H. Leopold, MD, DSc Memorial Lecture, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai Bicentennial CME Symposium 
2022 – Dr Keshmahinger Singh Oration Award and Medal, Malaysia Society of Ophthalmology
2022 – Boberg-Ans Medal, Danish Ophthalmological Society
2023 - The Ophthalmologist Power List Hall of Fame