Innovating glaucoma care 

We are funding Dr Anthony Khawaja to develop adoptable tools that will enable earlier detection and more effective glaucoma management.

Current glaucoma screening tests are limited and can fail to detect early stages of the disease. As a result many patients have irreversible vision loss at point of diagnosis.

Even after diagnosis, many patients continue to lose vision despite current therapies. Over 5% of patients undergoing treatment have been reported to lose sight in both eyes within 10 years. Already stretched glaucoma services are therefore compelled to innovate to minimise sight loss.

Anthony will expand on his successful glaucoma genetics and artificial intelligence (AI) research programmes. He will combine state-of-art genetic information together with AI algorithms to build prediction tools that can be deployed in clinics to manage glaucoma efficiently. 

Anthony aims to develop and train algorithms that will organise and analyse large datasets routinely collected from glaucoma patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital. The resulting processing pipeline will be used to develop genomic prediction models for glaucoma risk and disease progression, and AI models for glaucoma diagnosis.

Stepwise scientific approach:

1. Establish big data processing pipeline for Moorfields Eye Hospital glaucoma patients
2. Create enhanced glaucoma database
3. Develop genomic prediction models for glaucoma risk and disease progression
4. Develop AI models for glaucoma diagnosis

The ultimate goal of this project is to combine the genetic and AI algorithms to create effective prediction and risk stratification tools. These will have the potential to enable paradigm-shifting innovation in glaucoma care. Effective population screening could prevent sight loss before diagnosis. Personalised glaucoma treatments could help preserve sight in high-risk patients while reducing treatment-associated side effects and costs in low-risk patients.