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Ophthalmology
Enabling critical advances in eye knowledge and improving lives
Our sight is a critically important sense. Every day, 250 people in the UK begin to lose their vision, a distressing, isolating and costly experience for the individuals affected, as well as their families and carers.
The sector-leading Oriel collaboration between UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Charity and the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust enables us to run one of the world’s largest ophthalmic research programmes and conduct cutting-edge study into the care and treatment of eye disorders and diseases.
Our exceptional new facility in the heart of London will be more than a building. It will host an integrated research, education and treatment centre, enabling critical advances in eye and sight knowledge and improving the lives of countless millions of patients around the world.
We aim to secure £80 million in philanthropic support (shared between Moorfields Eye Charity and UCL). This is our once-in-a-century opportunity to drive critical progress in understanding, treating and even reversing the conditions that cause sight loss.
““The partnership between UCL and Moorfields leads the world in tackling the challenge of sight loss. Oriel is our joint opportunity to go far further, and faster: to research, train, and treat in a shared space for the benefit of millions globally.” - Professor Andrew Dick, Director of the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
Inside the centre: the designer's view
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) and Moorfields Eye Hospital (MEH) will move to the accessible, flexible and sustainable new centre on UCL's main campus, in close proximity to UCLH, the Francis Crick Institute, and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB)
- The design will foster greater interaction between patients, clinicians and researchers by removing the physical barriers that exist in current facilities
- With on-site collaboration between specialists and optimal access to patients, data and bio-samples, research productivity will be enhanced and new treatments implemented more quickly
- The outstanding facilities will allow IoO and MEH to continue providing unmatched educational opportunities for all eye health professionals
- It will open to staff, patients and students in 2027
Research news
Our impact
In a world first, Steve Verze was fitted with a cutting-edge 3D printed prosthetic eye, as part of a unique collaboration led by UCL researchers and Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Our expertise
Professor Pete Coffey, a world-leading eye researcher who pioneered a treatment enabling people whose vision has been destroyed by disease to see again, has been named a UK Lifesaver.