NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre receives £20m

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology has been awarded £20m funding for a five-year period starting from December 2022. This follows an open and highly competitive process judged by international experts and patients.

This award is further affirmation of our status as the top-ranked organisation in the world for ophthalmology research. Moorfields is the only eye specialist to achieve this status and is one of only 20 BRCs across England.

NIHR Moorfields BRC is an internationally renowned partnership between Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, ranked number one in the world for ophthalmology research. The BRC was first established in April 2007 and this award is the fourth five-year term to support research designed to take advances in basic medical research from the laboratory to the clinic. The centre’s broad spectrum of research into eye disease enables patients to benefit more quickly from world-class scientific breakthroughs, treatments and diagnostics, and has demonstrated a wider reach into other health conditions through digital technology and advanced therapies.

Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw, Moorfields Eye Hospital director of research and development and co-director of the NIHR Moorfields BRC, commented: “I am extremely pleased that we have been awarded NIHR BRC funding for the fourth time, demonstrating our joint sites’ world leading track record, and their potential for translating vision research though to patient benefit. We are excited to deliver our mission of preserving sight and driving equity through innovation, particularly for those in greatest need. As we age, all of us are likely to be affected by an eye disorder at some point. The impact on quality of life and the cost to healthcare services and the economy due to visual impairment is vast. The NIHR BRC funding has been and continues to be a critical component of our mission to translate basic research through to improve lives of people in the UK and across the world.”

Professor Andrew Dick, director of UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and co-director of NIHR Moorfields BRC, added: “The innovators, discoverers, clinicians and scientists who I have had the privilege to work with as part of the BRC have demonstrated a real difference and benefit to patients. This new funding term is exciting as we can continue to boost cutting-edge research to accelerate treatments and technologies that will mean benefit across the healthcare system, nationally and globally.”

Dr Martin Kuper, chief executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital, said: “Patients and staff are at the heart of everything we do. This award will build an even stronger culture of collaboration, underpinned by our plans for Oriel, a joint Moorfields-UCL national eye care, research and education centre, where we will aim to deliver ‘sight for all’ through innovations in eye health. The BRC award provides the foundation for our collaboration to discover, develop and deliver excellent eye care.”