This year, for the first time ever, the College has awarded four Honorary Fellowships. The accolade, which is the highest honour the College can bestow, recognises people who have made a significant contribution to ophthalmology.
The 2025 Honorary Fellows are:
- Bertil Damato
- Hannah Faal
- Simon Harding
- Melanie Hingorani
Born in Malta, Professor Bertil Damato completed his postgraduate training in Glasgow. In 1993, he founded the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Centre, which he directed for 20 years, and from 2013 to 2018, he was Professor of Ophthalmology and Radiation Oncology and Director of the Ocular Oncology Service at the University of California. He then practised as a senior ocular oncologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, St. Eriks Eye Hospital/Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm; Oxford Eye Hospital; and Sheffield Ocular Oncology Service. Professor Damato has served as President of the European Ocular Oncology Group, the European Vision and Research Association, and the International Society of Ocular Oncology. He has published more than 300 scientific articles and authored or co-edited several textbooks, and received a number of awards. Bertil is married to Frankanne and has two children, both doctors.
Professor Hannah Bassey Faal was born in 1945 in Calabar, Nigeria. She graduated in medicine from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and was awarded Fellowship by examination of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh in Ophthalmology in 1976. She joined the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in 1989. Professor Faal is also a member of the Nigerian and West African Colleges and an international member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In 1980 she and her husband, a Gambian obstetrician gynaecologist, made the decision to go and serve in The Gambia. There, she implemented the highly successful National Comprehensive Eye Care Programme, which led to the reduction in blindness prevalence from 0.7% to 0.4% in a decade evidenced by two national population-based surveys ten years apart. Her experiences helped Hannah influence work with the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Centre for Eye Health and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). She was eye care programme consultant and programme development advisor to Sightsavers International for more than 20 years, during which time she was involved in and influenced various projects in the 30+ countries it supports. Hannah remains active in her retirement in eye health: with IAPB and the WHO; as an adjunct professor in international eye health in Nigeria; visiting expert to the International Centre for Eye Health, and as a trustee of several organisations.
Simon Harding is Chair Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology in the Department of Eye and Vision Science at the University of Liverpool, and is Honorary Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at St. Paul’s Eye Unit in Liverpool. He is leading the development of the early detection and treatment of retinal diseases locally, nationally and internationally, particularly in relation to diabetic retinopathy. He has research programmes in diabetic eye disease and wider topics in retinal diseases. Simon has written or contributed to more than 200 peer reviewed publications in the field, and is a founder of AI Sight Ltd, a recent spin-out from the University of Liverpool developing novel AI systems in medical imaging. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the development of ophthalmology and vision science in Liverpool. Nationally he has made regular contributions to the UK’s ophthalmology congresses and has served on a number of College committees. He was one of the founders of the Network of Reading Centres UK and the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. Internationally he has led policy developments in early detection of diabetic retinopathy within Europe with WHO, and in China and sub-Saharan Africa, and served as President of the European Association for Diabetic Eye Complications between 2016 and 2018. He was awarded the MBE by the late Queen in her 2022 New Year Honours list for services to the prevention of blindness.
Mrs Melanie Hingorani qualified from Oxford University and Guy’s Hospital, has an MD (research in allergic eye disease) from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and trained as an ophthalmologist in London. Her first consultant post was at Hinchingbrooke Hospital providing paediatric ophthalmology, adult motility and high-volume cataract surgery before moving to Moorfields, for more specialist clinical practice in paediatric emergency and corneal disease. She has held various Clinical Director roles at Moorfields. She founded the UK Ophthalmology Alliance,which she chaired for six years, was Chair of Professional Standards followed by Honorary Secretary and Board Trustee at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, CQC Specialty Advisor for Ophthalmology, Chair of the NHS England Ophthalmology Clinical Reference Group and, for 2 years, Clinical Lead for the NHS England National Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme. She retired from practice in 2023.