Moorfields London Consultant Speaks on Genetic Eye Diseases During Visit to Dubai

Dr. Mariya Moosajee, MBBS BSc PhD FRCOphth, Consultant Ophthalmologist from Moorfields Eye Hospital London and an eminent researcher specialising in Genetic Eye Disease, was a keynote speaker at the 17^th Emirates Society of Ophthalmology (ESO) conference, 14-16 December 2017, in Dubai. Dr. Moosajee will speak on ‘Genomic Medicine for Inherited Retinal Diseases’, and will be joined at the conference by colleagues and fellow speakers from Moorfields Eye Hospital London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Dr. Moosajee’s clinical focus is on developing a Genomic Service for children and adults affected with genetic eye disease. She will also be consulting patients through dedicated Genetic clinics with genetic testing and counselling for families to be held at Moorfields in Dubai, during her visit.

According to Dr Moosajee, we are entering an era of personalised medicine, and in her presentation to ESO she will highlight how we are translating science to medicine using genome, stem cells, gene therapy and pharmacological small molecule drugs for the treatment of inherited retinal diseases.

Dr. Moosajee graduated with First Class Honours in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics in 2000, Medicine (MBBS) in 2003, and was awarded her PhD in Molecular Ophthalmology in 2009 all from Imperial College London.  She completed her NIHR Academic Clinical Lectureship in 2016 and became the first Ophthalmologist to be awarded the prestigious Wellcome Trust Beit Prize Clinical Research Development Fellowship. She has won 30 international and national prizes for her research and published over 40 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Moosajee is also an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. In addition, she is a Senior Lecturer at University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology, London, where she leads a large research team focused on identifying the genes that cause eye disease and developing new treatments for patients. She is a lecturer in Communication Skills, Embryology and Genetics for BSc, MSc and MBBS students, at both UCL and Imperial College London.

Speaking about the visit, Mariano Gonzalez, Managing Director at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai said: “We are delighted to be hosting Dr. Moosajee in Dubai, where she will share her ground-breaking research work into a range of genetic eye diseases at the ESO conference and take time to meet patients and advise families, in a series of special clinics that we will host for her, at the hospital. Moorfields is also supporting ESO with several of our London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi based teams of Consultant Ophthalmologists speaking on their areas of special interest.”

Visiting Consultant Dr Moosajee will conduct consultations, can organise genetic testing and provide counselling for patients and families that suffer from any form of Genetic Eye Disease, ranging birth and childhood eye defects to inherited retinal degenerations, at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai on Thursday December 14^th, 2017. For more information or for bookings visit www.moorfields.ae/dubai, or call +9714 429 7888.