Keith Martin is an ophthalmologist.
He is the inaugural Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cambridge and a specialist in the treatment of glaucoma. In 2013, Professor Martin's team tested a novel technique of bio-printing, using an ink jet to recreate layers of ganglion and glial cells from a rat's retina, a process that has been described as 'printing eyeballs'.
Martin was educated at The Royal School, Armagh, from 1980 to 1987, and was head boy in his final year. [1] He then won a place at St Catharine's College, Cambridge to read medical science and neuroscience. He graduated with first class honours in three subjects. [1]
He qualified as a medical doctor at Oxford University in 1993. He then did medical research at several institutions in the USA and UK including: the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Wilmer Eye Institute. [1] [2]
He has specialised in the treatment of glaucoma and in 2005 he established the Glaucoma Research Laboratory at Cambridge. [1] He is also an editor of the Journal of Glaucoma and treasurer of the World Glaucoma Association. [1]
In 2009 he became Cambridge University's Professor of Ophthalmology. This was a new chair, sponsored by the Cambridge Eye Trust. [3] In 2013, he worked with Dr Barbara Lorber and others on the use of a piezoelectric inkjet nozzle to spray ganglion and glial cells from a rat retina. [4] The cells survived the process of deposition in layers and continued to grow in culture. With further development and testing, techniques like this could have clinical application for the repair of damaged retinas. [5] [6]
In 2018, Keith became president of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA), the world's largest glaucoma association.
In 2019, Martin moved to Melbourne where he became the Managing Director for the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and the head of Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne.
Keith Martin is married and has three children. He lives in Melbourne. [1] His wife, Susie, is better known as Dr. Susan Harden, the thoracic oncologist and Lead Clinician in Lung Cancer at Addenbrooke Hospital before moving to Australia in late 2019 . [1]
2010: ARVO Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research (TR) Award, or 'ARVO Camras Award for TR'. This is an award for young researchers with innovative work that shows potential for clinical application. [7]
The retina is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then processes that image within the retina and sends nerve impulses along the optic nerve to the visual cortex to create visual perception. The retina serves a function which is in many ways analogous to that of the film or image sensor in a camera.
Ophthalmology is a clinical and surgical specialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of sight" because the loss of vision usually occurs slowly over a long period of time. A major risk factor for glaucoma is increased pressure within the eye, known as intraocular pressure (IOP). It is associated with old age, a family history of glaucoma, and certain medical conditions or the use of some medications. The word glaucoma comes from the Ancient Greek word γλαυκός, meaning 'gleaming, blue-green, gray'.
In neuroanatomy, the optic nerve, also known as the second cranial nerve, cranial nerve II, or simply CN II, is a paired cranial nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. In humans, the optic nerve is derived from optic stalks during the seventh week of development and is composed of retinal ganglion cell axons and glial cells; it extends from the optic disc to the optic chiasma and continues as the optic tract to the lateral geniculate nucleus, pretectal nuclei, and superior colliculus.
The aqueous humour is a transparent water-like fluid similar to blood plasma, but containing low protein concentrations. It is secreted from the ciliary body, a structure supporting the lens of the eyeball. It fills both the anterior and the posterior chambers of the eye, and is not to be confused with the vitreous humour, which is located in the space between the lens and the retina, also known as the posterior cavity or vitreous chamber. Blood cannot normally enter the eyeball.
A retinal ganglion cell (RGC) is a type of neuron located near the inner surface of the retina of the eye. It receives visual information from photoreceptors via two intermediate neuron types: bipolar cells and retina amacrine cells. Retina amacrine cells, particularly narrow field cells, are important for creating functional subunits within the ganglion cell layer and making it so that ganglion cells can observe a small dot moving a small distance. Retinal ganglion cells collectively transmit image-forming and non-image forming visual information from the retina in the form of action potential to several regions in the thalamus, hypothalamus, and mesencephalon, or midbrain.
The ciliary body is a part of the eye that includes the ciliary muscle, which controls the shape of the lens, and the ciliary epithelium, which produces the aqueous humor. The aqueous humor is produced in the non-pigmented portion of the ciliary body. The ciliary body is part of the uvea, the layer of tissue that delivers oxygen and nutrients to the eye tissues. The ciliary body joins the ora serrata of the choroid to the root of the iris.
The optic disc or optic nerve head is the point of exit for ganglion cell axons leaving the eye. Because there are no rods or cones overlying the optic disc, it corresponds to a small blind spot in each eye.
Oncomodulin is a parvalbumin-family calcium-binding protein expressed and secreted by macrophages.
Köllner's Rule is a term used in ophthalmology and optometry that pertains to the progressive nature of color vision loss that is secondary to eye disease. This rule states that outer retinal diseases and media changes result in blue-yellow color defects, while diseases of the inner retina, optic nerve, visual pathway, and visual cortex will result in red-green defects. This is possibly related to the increased susceptibility of S-cones and rods to ischaemia and oxidative damage, although S-cone loss is more noticeable due to their lower density and their higher metabolic rate.
Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a disease that develops as a complication of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. PVR occurs in about 8–10% of patients undergoing primary retinal detachment surgery and prevents the successful surgical repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. PVR can be treated with surgery to reattach the detached retina but the visual outcome of the surgery is very poor. A number of studies have explored various possible adjunctive agents for the prevention and treatment of PVR, such as methotrexate, although none have yet been licensed for clinical use.
Sohan Singh Hayreh was an ophthalmologist, clinical scientist, and professor emeritus of ophthalmology at the University of Iowa. As one of the pioneers in the field of fluorescein angiography, he was generally acknowledged to be a leading authority in vascular diseases of the eye and the optic nerve. For over 60 years, Hayreh was actively involved in basic, experimental, and clinical research in ophthalmology, publishing over 400 original peer-reviewed articles in various international ophthalmic journals, six classical monographs and books in his field of research, and more than 50 chapters in ophthalmic books. He made many seminal observations dealing with the ocular circulation in health and disease, the optic disc and the optic nerve, retinal and choroidal vascular disorders, glaucomatous optic neuropathy, fundus changes in malignant arterial hypertension, ocular neovascularization, rheumatologic disorders of the eye, and nocturnal arterial hypotension. He was an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences.
Retinal gene therapy holds a promise in treating different forms of non-inherited and inherited blindness.
Ulrich Meyer-Bothling is an ophthalmic surgeon and research scientist. He is founding member and past Clinical Director of the Diabetic Retinopathy Screening service for Surrey.
King-Wai Yau is a Chinese-born American neuroscientist and Professor of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.
Joan Whitten Miller is a Canadian-American ophthalmologist and scientist who has made notable contributions to the treatment and understanding of eye disorders. She is credited for developing photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin (Visudyne), the first pharmacologic therapy for retinal disease. She also co-discovered the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in eye disease and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of VEGF inhibitors, forming the scientific basis of anti-VEGF therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, and related conditions.
Robert E. MacLaren is a British ophthalmologist who has led pioneering work in the treatment of blindness caused by diseases of the retina. He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and Honorary Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Oxford Eye Hospital. He is also an Honorary Consultant Vitreo-retinal Surgeon at the Moorfields Eye Hospital. MacLaren is an NIHR Senior Investigator, or lead researcher, for the speciality of Ophthalmology. In addition, he is a member of the research committee of Euretina: the European Society of Retina specialists, Fellow of Merton College, in Oxford and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Michael Belkin is an Israeli academic and researcher working in ophthalmology, Professor Emeritus of Ophthalmology at Tel Aviv University. His research brought about advances in glaucoma treatment such as the ExPress glaucoma implant, the Ioptimate CO2 laser glaucoma surgery and a fast, non-contact glaucoma laser treatment.
William Anthony Beltran is a French–American ophthalmologist. He is a professor of ophthalmology in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine and director of the Division of Experimental Retinal Therapies at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. In 2020, Beltran was elected a Member of the National Academy of Medicine for his research focus on inherited retinal degeneration.