Council Members

Ben became President on 24 May 2023.  He is a full time NHS consultant ophthalmologist at James Paget University Hospital in Great Yarmouth. Ben has an interest in medical retina, uveitis and neuro-ophthalmology and underwent subspecialty training in Moorfields Eye Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London.

He is actively involved in research studies for Age Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinal Vein Occlusions and runs the Macular Degeneration service at the James Paget University Hospital.

Melanie is a consultant ophthalmologist specialising in paediatric ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. She has a particular interest in disorders of the front of the eye in children and also in clinical governance, safety and clinical leadership in ophthalmic care.

Melanie was Clinical Director for Quality and Safety at Moorfields for six years and is now their Clinical Director for External Engagement and Policy. She founded and chairs the UK Ophthalmology Alliance, with more than 95 hospital eye unit members across the UK working together to drive service transformation nationally and provide practical support to regions and hospitals to improve care.

Melanie is Joint Honorary Secretary and sits on the Clinical Council for Eye Health.​

Read Mel Hingorani’s Declaration of Interest Form

Manoj Parulekar is Joint Honorary Secretary of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He chairs the remuneration committee and co-chairs the membership committee. He currently serves on the paediatric and international medical graduates sub-committee of the college.

He has previously served as Annual congress secretary, and member of the scientific committee and academic sub-committee.Manoj is a consultant ophthalmologist at the Birmingham Women’s and Children’s Hospital, and the Oxford University Hospital NHS Trust. He graduated in medicine from Mumbai, India and trained in Oxford and Toronto. His clinical and academic practice includes most aspects of paediatric eye disorders, and adult squint surgery.

Manoj and his colleagues provide a national service for paediatric ocular oncology serving UK and Ireland. He runs an active fellowship programme training UK and overseas fellows, and is less than full time training lead for West Midlands deanery.

Manoj is a trustee of Sightsavers International, a vision related charity working in developing countries, and also trustee and treasurer of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress.

Manoj is actively involved in overseas projects through Sightsavers, and the Vision 2020 links programme in India and Africa. He has an active clinical academic practice with over 10 grants, 60 peer reviewed publications, several book chapters and text books.

Read Manoj Parulekar’s Declaration of Interest Policy and Form

Stephen Kaye is a Professor of Ophthalmology at The University of Liverpool and Consultant Ophthalmologist at The Liverpool University NHS Foundation Trust where he leads the corneal and external eye disease service.  He holds an Honorary Professorship at Queens University, Belfast. He is the Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Open Ophthalmology.

He co-Chairs the Bowman Club and Microbiology Ophthalmic Group.  He was Chair of The Ocular Tissue Advisory Group to NHS Blood and Transplant (2007-13). He was elected to represent Merseyside on The Council of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (2013-19), appointed to The Board of Trustees and chaired The Scholarships and Awards Subcommittee. He is a member of the Specialised Clinical Reference Group for NHS England.

He was awarded The National Institute of Health Research and The Royal College of Ophthalmologists Researcher of the Year in 2018, The British Ocular Surface Society and MCLOSA Kersley Medal Lecture in 2019 and the invited visiting Professorship Lectures, Harvard Medical School in 2011 and 2021.

Read Stephen’s Declaration of Interest Form

Christopher was appointed as consultant with an interest in Cornea, External Eye Disease and Cataract in Brighton at the Sussex Eye Hospital. He is a world leading expert in the osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP), with patients seeking his expertise from across the globe. He also serves as an Honorary Clinical Professor and Undergraduate Ophthalmology Lead for the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and has designed the curriculum as well as supervising medical students, registrars and fellows in research. His research interests are in the anterior segment of the eye with over 250 publications, over a dozen inventions and a number of patents.

Christopher is an active member in the scientific field, having served as president of The Medical Contact Lens and Ocular Surface Association, British Society of Refractive Surgery, Southern Ophthalmological Society and is the current president of Brighton and Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society. He is also a past Honorary Secretary of United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons, holds a Silver National Clinical Excellence Award and was made honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, and honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Christopher’s passion for education has continued throughout his career, he is frequently invited as an international speaker at conferences and runs training courses for ophthalmologists.

Read Christopher Liu’s Declaration of Interest Policy and Form

My life in Ophthalmology has somewhat mirrored my slightly peripatetic undergraduate career. I was privileged to attend university in Scotland, England and Switzerland and as an Ophthalmologist, I started at the Tennent Institute in Glasgow, transitioned through London and ended up in Buckinghamshire.

If you already know me it is probably because you have heard a podcast about recruitment, seen a bad video on how to benchmark recruitment stations or watched me deliver and facilitate any number of Training the Trainers courses. In my spare time, I am a consultant Ophthalmologist Lead for Paediatric and Strabismus and Co-Lead for Cataract services at Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust.

I am excited that after finishing my tenure at Recruitment I am being given the opportunity to start as Chair of Training. It is going to be an exciting journey with a new curriculum starting in 2024, huge capacity and workforce challenge for us all and any new virus that wants to appear. We know as Ophthalmologists we punch above our weight making up 0.03% of the NHS consultant body in the UK and delivering 10% of all NHS Out Patient Activity and 6% of all surgery. I have to say this is a reassuringly exemplar group of colleagues to have for the challenges we face in the coming 4 years.

Chair of the Examinations Committee

Rebecca Ford is a consultant ophthalmologist with a special interest in oculoplastic and orbital surgery at Bristol Eye Hospital. After studying at Cambridge & Oxford, she worked in general medicine before discovering a fascination for ophthalmology and pursuing specialist training in London, followed by oculoplastics fellowship training in Birmingham.

Rebecca has a special interest in medical education; she was a London Deanery Fellow in Medical Education and completed her Masters degree in surgical education at Imperial College London. Her past experience includes being lead examiner for the International Council of Ophthalmology Oculoplastics Subspecialty Exam, and external examiner for the College of Optometry independent prescriber exam. She has also served as clinical director of Bristol Eye Hospital and represented the South West on the BOPSS committee. She joined the RCOphth education committee in 2017.

Rebecca is the current chair of the Thyroid Eye Disease Charitable Trust, a charity dedicated to supporting patients with thyroid eye disease and promoting research into this condition. She loves travel and scuba diving, and her charitable ophthalmology work has taken her as far afield as China, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Sobha Sivaprasad is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and a Professor in Retinal Clinical Research in University College London.

Her special interest is Medical Retina and she has completed a two year fellowship in medical retina and clinical trials in Moorfields. Her higher degree was on the link of age related macular degeneration to markers of atherosclerosis. She has over 300 peer-reviewed publications to her credit. Her main research interests are clinical trials, imaging and risk prediction. She has been the Editor-in-Chief of Eye from January 2018. She is one of the theme leads in the Moorfields BRC. She is also the lead for the Clinical Study Group in Retina within the UKCRN Ophthalmology Specialty.

Sobha has received a few UK accolades including the NIHR RCOphth Researcher of the year, the Macular Society Rising Star in 2017 and BMJ best paper runner-up in 2018. She also received the RCOphth Nettleship Medal in 2019, an award that was given for the first time in 10 years. Sobha is also a UKRI Global Challenge Research Grant holder and in this post, aimed to increase diabetic retinal research capacity and capability in India and the UK.

Read Sobha Sivaprasad’s Declaration of Interest Form

Bill is a consultant paediatric and neuro-ophthalmologist with particular interests in the effects and treatment of visual disorders following eye or brain injury either congenital or acquired, and the ocular management of craniofacial disorders. He has been a longstanding appointed member of the Secretary of State for Transport’s Honorary Advisory Panel on Driving and Visual Disorders of which he was appointed chair in 2019.

Bill started his consultant career in 2002 at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and St Paul’s Eye Unit in Liverpool. In 2016 he was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Paedaitrics and Child Health and that same year moved to Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, becoming Medical Director in 2018.

Bill has been involved with the College variously as chair of the Ophthalmic Trainees Group, regional representative on council, and from 2013 – 2017 Honorary Secretary.

Read Bill Newman’s Declaration of Interest Policy and Form

Dr Swetha Maddula Batambuze MBChB is the new Chair of the RCOphth subcommittee for SAS doctors as of November 2021.

 I am a Specialty Doctor at Northwest Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, Peterborough. Specialist interests include Glaucoma, Paediatrics, and Cataract surgery.  She started her career in Ophthalmology in 2009, entering OST run-through training in the West Midlands Deanery until 2015.  Having transitioned to the SAS, I have not looked back!  I encourage our speciality, specialists, associate specialists and locally employed trust doctors to join us for college news articles, conferences, and collaboration- Please contact us at [email protected]

Chair of Lay Advisory Group

Council Regional Representative – Yorkshire

Council Regional Representative – South West Thames

Council Regional Representative – Trent

Council Regional Representative – Oxford

Mohamed is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Queen Victoria Hospital and Eye Bank NHS Trust, and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospital NHS Trust. His main interests are Cornea, Cataract, Ocular Surface and Refractive Surgery.

He is active in research, holding both Masters and Doctoral degrees in Ophthalmology. He worked previously as a Clinical Assistant Professor in Ophthalmology in The University of Nottingham. He has more than 30 peer reviewed publications and supervises Masters and Doctoral degrees.

Mohamed is a Clinical Researcher/Lecturer in The Research Institute of Ophthalmology in Cairo, Egypt. He teaches and trains fellows in UK and overseas. He is regularly invited to international meetings to give talks and courses. He is the current Fellowship Director in Corneoplastic Unit, Queen Victoria Hospital. He travels overseas to deliver lectures and live surgery.

Mohamed is a current College Council member as the Regional College Representative for South East Thames.

Read Mohamed Elalfy’s Declaration of Interest Form

Professor Parwez Hossain is a King James IV Professor, Consultant Ophthalmologist & Head of Corneal Service, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust & University of Southampton, UK. Parwez Hossain is Professor and Consultant Ophthalmologist at University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust. He has been a post for 16 years. Parwez is also the Appraisal Lead for Ophthalmologists and the SAS lead. He previously was the Clinical Director for Ophthalmology Services, resulting in a significant expansion of eye services for the South Coast.

In addition to his leadership roles, Parwez is Principal Investigator of the Cornea Disease Research Programme at the University of Southampton and is an Associate Editor for the corneal section for ‘Eye’.Professor Hossain’s primary research interests include ocular surface diseases focusing on ocular surface inflammatory diseases, including microbial keratitis and dry eyes. He has led & completed several clinical trials, authoring over 100 peer-reviewed articles & books with prizes from NHS Innovation and multiple awards from UK Research Councils & Charities.

Professor Hossain is the deputy chair of the ocular tissue advisor for NHS Blood & Transplant, a council member and trustee for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Read Parwez Hossain’s Declaration of Interest Policy and Form

Council Regional Representative – Eire

Council Regional Representative – Northern Ireland

Council Regional Representative – North Western

Council Regional Representative – North

Council Regional Representative – North West Thames

Council Regional Representative – North East Thames

I am honoured to have been chosen to represent Welsh Ophthalmologists and am deeply thankful for the chance to improve eyecare in Wales.

Dwi’n ddiolchgar iawn am y cyfle i helpu wella gwasanaethau offthalmolegol Cymru er mwyn golwg pobl ein gwlad.

Council Regional Representative – Clare Bailey

Council Regional Representative – West Midlands

Council Regional Representative – Scotland East

Council Regional Representative – – Scotland West regional rep

Council Regional Representative – Moorfields

Council Regional Representative – Mersey

Hasan Naveed is a ST7 trainee based in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex deanery. His subspecialty interests include cornea, external eye disease, cataract and refractive surgery. Hasan is active in academia, teaching and research, and has published over 25 papers in reputable journals worldwide. He is also passionate about digital technology, surgical innovation, education and simulation.