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Institute of Ophthalmology awarded £1m grant from Allergan Foundation

21 March 2017

Professor Alan Thompson…

After receiving a £1m grant from The Allergan Foundation in December 2015, the Institute of Ophthalmology has published an impact report that explains how UCL’s ophthalmic education has been transformed.

The Allergan Foundation is the charitable foundation of Allergan plc, a global pharmaceutical company. The grant was awarded in 2015 to Sue Lightman, Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, and her colleagues, in recognition of the IoO’s excellence in education delivery and innovation, and to further develop and enhance its initiatives.

Since receiving the grant, many education initiatives have been successfully launched:

  • A two-year clinical MSc programme was launched in 2015, which includes a year in clinical practice.
  • A new MSc programme focusing on eye movement disorders will launch this year.
  • The IoO has also run a week-long Summer School for the past two years, aimed at medical students, junior doctors and others with an interest in ophthalmic careers.
  • The IoO has also increased its CPD and short course provision available to clinicians and practitioners across the world.
  • The team have also created the first eCourse supported by the Allergan Foundation and several more of these are in development.
  • Bursaries are now available for students from disadvantaged areas who would not otherwise be able to study there.
  • The IoO has refurbished a teaching space which opened in January 2017 for the Masters teaching.

In the impact report to The Allergan Foundation, Professor Lightman and Professor Alan Thompson said: ‘The generosity of The Allergan Foundation not only recognised our unique education programme when the award was granted, but has enabled us to expand it to provide high quality education opportunities for doctors and allied health professionals involved in eye care from around the world … The generous support of The Allergan Foundation has had a transformative impact on the IOO. This will in turn impact upon countless people worldwide.’

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