Shohista Saidkasimova is a consultant ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon in the Tennent Institute of Ophthalmology, Glasgow. Dr Saidkasimovas areas of special clinical interest include rapid recovery treatment of retinal detachment, managent of complications of pathologic myopia, early treatment of endophthalmitis and surgical treatments of age related macular degeneration. Dr Saidkasimova has published in research areas such as surgery for submacular haemorrhage, management of endophthalmitis and risk factors for visual impairment in patients with sickle cell disease in London. She is committed to training the new generation of vitreoretinal surgeons and is the training lead for the British and Eyre Vitreoretinal Society (BEAVRS) and examiner for the Royal college of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth). She has been involved in several charitable projects in St Johns hospital in Jerusalem, Ethiopia with Fiona Dolan Fund, Myanmar, Turkish- Syrian border and Uzbekistan with Orbis.
Professor Tom H Williamson is a vitreoretinal surgeon at St Thomas Hospital, London. He has a wide experience of surgical interventions for retinal disease with 500 operations performed under his care annually. His research interests have included use of artificial intelligence for diagnosis of retinal disease, investigation and design of new surgical methods, application of technology in clinical care and psychophysical tests in clinical retinal assessment. He regularly performs investigations to determine ways of maximising success rates and reducing complication rates of vitreoretinal surgeryand is in demand as an international lecturer on this subject. He has published 5 books and his text Vitreoretinal Surgery is the premier manual for training in vitreoretinal surgery internationally. He has the largest single surgeon dataset of vitreoretinal procedures (with over 14000 operations over 22 years) internationally and over 200 publications on clinical topics in vitreoretinal surgery and ophthalmology, making him one of the premier opinions in vitreoretinal surgery.
Charitable duties include setting up and directing the Eyehope charity for 5 years and performing duties for Fight for Sight and the World Sight Foundation.
He has had many leadership roles including Ophthalmology Training Program Director in London, and Director of Consultants Eye Surgeons Partnership South London and the London Claremont Clinic.He was President of the British and Eire Vitreoretinal Society. He holds a Visiting Professorship in Engineering and Biological Sciences at The University of Surrey. The training program at St Thomas for vitreoretinal surgery is regarded as one of the premier programs for training in the subject.