Sarah Coupland is an Australian-born pathologist and professor who is the George Holt Chair in Pathology at the University of Liverpool. Coupland is an active clinical scientist whose research focuses on the molecular genetics of cancers, with particular interests in uveal melanoma, conjunctival melanoma, intraocular and ocular adnexal lymphomas and CNS lymphoma. Coupland is also an NHS Honorary Consultant Histopathologist at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Since 2006, Coupland has been head of the Liverpool Ocular Oncology Research Group; [1] from which she runs a multidisciplinary oncology research group focussing on Uveal melanoma, based in the Department of Molecular and Clinical Cancer Medicine at the University of Liverpool. [2] Her research laboratory is currently located in the Institute of Translational Medicine [3] From April 2014 to December 2019, Coupland was also Director of the North West Cancer Research Centre, [4] @UoL. [5] In both 2019 and 2020, Coupland was included on the 'Pathology Powerlist' on The Pathologist website. [6]
Coupland was born in Sydney, raised in Canberra and was educated at the University of New South Wales, Australia, where she received her MBBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery clinical degree in 1988, after which she studied for a Ph.D. at the University of Sydney. For most of her career, Coupland has been based in Europe, and since 2005, she has been an academic research-based clinician at the University of Liverpool. [7]
Following the completion of her Ph.D. studies, Coupland moved to Germany to continue her specialist pathology training at the Charité University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, FU Berlin between 1995 – 2002, obtaining a Klein Sprachdiplom from the Goethe Institute, Berlin in 1994[ citation needed ], and completing her Facharzt ('specialist') examinations in Surgical Histopathology in 2002 at the Free University of Berlin, from where she was also awarded a Habilitation degree in Surgical Histopathology (Assoc. Professor thesis) in 2005.[ citation needed ] She was then made Consultant Pathologist at the Charité University Hospital Benjamin Franklin, Berlin from 2002–2005. In 2005, she has registered by the General Medical Council, a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. She re-registered in 2015 and as a Liverpool-based pathologist was Director of the Liverpool Tissue Bank between 2011 – 2016 and a contributor to the Athena SWAN agenda as Deputy Lead for the Institute of Translational medicine at the University of Liverpool.[ citation needed ]
Coupland is an active research collaborator and has received significant funding, both as both a principal investigator and as a co-investigator. Recent funding, with the support of Innovate UK includes the creation of a Northern (N6) Academic Pathology Network Digital Pathology (2019-2021), funding from North West Cancer Research to characterise the tumour- immune microenvironment in metastatic uveal melanoma (2018-2020), a once renewed NWCR Programme Grant (2014-2021) that funds prestigious NWCR prize DTP PhD studentships. Coupland has also received competitive research funding from EU-based Horizon 2020, Fight for Sight, NIHR and MRC schemes, totalling some £3.5million as PI and £14.5 million as Co-I.[ citation needed ]
In addition to her research activities, she has contributed to numerous international meetings, giving international keynote lectures. She dedicates much of her career to service within her field, including roles as Vice-Chair of the ‘Ophthalmic Tumor Writing Group’, 7th & 8th Ed’ns AJCC/TNM Classification (since 2005), as a member of the International Society of Ophthalmic Pathology (and President from 2011–present), a member for the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) (and Vice-President between 2017-2018), and she has been a trustee of ARVO Anatomy-Pathology-Oncology group & an ARVO Board Member (2013 - 2018). Coupland was also Chair of the ‘Ophthalmic Pathology Working Group’ of the European Society of Pathology (2013- 2018), the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), where she was Pathology rep on the “Clinical Trials Committee” (>2015–present). She has also served on the Mucosal Melanoma Guidelines Writing group (2016-2018), the ACCEA Merseyside Regional Committee for National Awards (>2011–present), the National Cancer Research Institute CM-Path Workstream 4 – Molecular technologies, Digital Pathology (>2016–present). She is an elected committee member of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and served on the Education & Training Subcommittee (2016-2019. She was a Committee Member of the WHO Eye Tumour Writing Group (2016-2018). She was a member of the European Ophthalmic Oncology Group (and Secretary between 2008–2011, and President (between 2011-2014). Coupland is an active patient advocate, and part of the OcuMelUK patient support group [8] and the National Cancer Research Institute Lymphoma Biological Studies Subgroup (Chair from 2008-2011). In terms of scientific publishing and scholarship, she has been a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science since 2016, an Associate Editor for Acta Ophthalmologica (since 2014), and was an Associate Editor (pathology) for Graefe's Archives for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. She was a Reviewing Editor of “Ocular Immunology and Inflammation” (between 2013-2018) and an Editorial Board Member of BMC Cancer (between 2010 and 2018).[ citation needed ]
As well as serving on multiple committees and charities, especially in the broader field of ocular diseases, Coupland is a decorated clinical pathologist, and in recognition of her science, she has received numerous awards. Her most recent prizes include an ARVO Silver Fellow Award (2012), [9] an ARVO Gold Fellow Award (2014/5) [10] and a prestigious ARVO Distinguished Service Award (2018). [11] In 2018, she received the International Council of Ophthalmology Eye Pathology Award – 2018 [12] and most recently, in 2019, a Royal College of Pathology Excellence Award in the Subspecialty of Ophthalmic Pathology and Oncology. [13] The citation reads 'Professor Coupland is an outstanding pre-eminent ocular pathologist in the UK and is internationally acclaimed for her work in ocular oncology. She has been instrumental to the care delivered to the world-recognised ocular oncology service in Liverpool through her pathology work, development of molecular and tumour signatures of ocular tumours, providing the evidence that informs treatments, prognosis and optimal patient care'. In further recognition of her work and achievements, Coupland was included on the Pathologist Power List for 2019 [14]
Coupland has given over 150 invited seminars[ citation needed ] at universities across the world, and she is credited with the supervision of dozens of Masters and PhD students, in addition to serving as a Pathology International Training Fellowship supervisor for over 20 students. Coupland has also acted as an external PhD examiner at over 20 European and UK universities.[ citation needed ]
She has published over 280 peer-reviewed publications, with an h-index of 47 (as of 2020) and a total of over 7,000 citations, according to Scopus or >10,600 according to Google Scholar. [15] Highly cited papers include a large number of enduring important first author and corresponding author publications, and citation classics such as [16] and [17] Coupland also contributed to important high-impact studies of genotyping in choroidal uveal melanoma [18] and clinical subtying in uveal melanoma. [19] With colleagues, she has recently reviewed the field of targeted therapy for uveal melanoma, where she discusses cautious optimism for the treatment of patients with new types of targeted, and perhaps patient-specific, therapeutics [20] [21]
The choroid, also known as the choroidea or choroid coat, is a part of the uvea, the vascular layer of the eye. It contains connective tissues, and lies between the retina and the sclera. The human choroid is thickest at the far extreme rear of the eye, while in the outlying areas it narrows to 0.1 mm. The choroid provides oxygen and nourishment to the outer layers of the retina. Along with the ciliary body and iris, the choroid forms the uveal tract.
Uveal melanoma is a type of eye cancer in the uvea of the eye. It is traditionally classed as originating in the iris, choroid, and ciliary body, but can also be divided into class I and class II. Symptoms include blurred vision, loss of vision, and photopsia, but there may be no symptoms.
Ciliary body melanoma is a type of cancer arising from the coloured part (uvea) of the eye.
Denise Sheer was appointed professor of human genetics at The Institute of Cell and Molecular Science at Queen Mary, University of London in November 2006. Her fields of expertise include cell and molecular biology; cancer genetics and epigenetics; and molecular pathology of paediatric brain tumours.
Zeynel A. Karcioglu is a medical and surgical practitioner, researcher and medical educator. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, specializing in Ophthalmic Oncology and Pathology particularly in areas of retinoblastoma, external eye tumors, and primary and metastatic orbital neoplasms. Karcioglu is also residency and fellowship trained in Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology and certified by the American Board of Pathology.
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an oncologist. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (ónkos), meaning "tumor", "volume" or "mass". Oncology is concerned with:
Paul T. Finger, MD, FACS, is an ophthalmologist in New York, New York, specializing in ocular oncology. Finger is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, New York. He is also the director of The New York Eye Cancer Center and Ocular Tumor Services at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mt. Sinai. He consults for Northwell Health Complex of affiliated Hospitals including Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital and NYU School of Medicine. He is Chair of the Ophthalmic Oncology Task Force for the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), wrote the eye cancer staging systems section for the Union International for Cancer Control (UICC). As Chair, he brought together an OOTF to develop consensus eye plaque radiation guidelines for The American Brachytherapy Society - American Association of Physicists in Medicine. Dr. Finger was the first the only ophthalmologist asked to serve on the 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine’s Task Group-129 that produced both dosimetry and quality assurance standards for plaque brachytherapy. As of 2021, Dr. Finger has authored over 335 peer-review scientific articles, 2 books, 54 book chapters and 2 web sites.
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is the University of Miami School of Medicine's ophthalmic care, research, and education center. The institute is based in the Health District of Miami, Florida, and has been ranked consistently as the best eye hospital and vision research center in the nation.
Orbital lymphoma is a common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that occurs near or on the eye. Common symptoms include decreased vision and uveitis. Orbital lymphoma can be diagnosed via a biopsy of the eye and is usually treated with radiotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy.
DecisionDx-UM is a prognostic test that accurately determines the metastatic risk associated with ocular melanoma tumors of the eye. Ocular melanoma is a term commonly used to describe tumors of the uveal tract such as uveal melanoma, choroidal melanoma, ciliary body melanoma, and iris melanoma. The DecisionDx-UM test was clinically validated on these tumors of the uveal tract. DecisionDx-UM assesses the gene expression profile (GEP) of a subset of genes which are differentially expressed in primary tumor cells compared to cells that have undergone transformation to a metastatic phenotype.
Marie Diener-West is the Helen Abbey and Margaret Merrell Professor of Biostatistics and the chair of the Master of Public Health Program at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Diener-West is an editor for the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group and a member of the American Public Health Association, American Statistical Association, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the Society for Clinical Studies.
Wallace H. Clark Jr. was an American dermatologist and pathologist. He is best known for devising the "Clark's level", or Clark Level, system for classifying the seriousness of a malignant melanoma skin cancer based on its microscopic appearance.
J. William Harbour is an American ophthalmologist, ocular oncologist and cancer researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He previously served as the vice chair and director of ocular oncology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and associate director for basic science at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.
Richard Anthony Scolyer is an Australian pathologist. He is a senior staff specialist in tissue pathology and diagnostic oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, co-medical director at the Melanoma Institute Australia, and Conjoint professor at the University of Sydney. He was joint 2024 Australian of the Year with Georgina Long.
Santosh Gajanan Honavar is an Indian ophthalmologist and is currently the Honorary General Secretary of the All India Ophthalmological Society; Director of Medical Services ; Director, Department of Ocular Oncology and Oculoplasty at Centre for Sight, Hyderabad; and Director, National Retinoblastoma Foundation. He was the Editor of the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology and Indian Journal of Ophthalmology - Case Reports, the official journals of the All India Ophthalmological Society from 2017 to 2023.
Daniel M. Albert is an American ophthalmologist, ocular cancer researcher, medical historian, and collector of rare books and ocular equipment. As of 2018, he is Professor of Ophthalmology at the Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University.
Noemi Lois is a Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Queen's University Belfast and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.
Fátima Carneiro is a Portuguese pathologist. Since 2001 she has been director of the Pathological Anatomy Service at the University Hospital Centre of São João in Porto. In September 2018 she was voted first in a list of the hundred "Best & Brightest" pathologists in the world by the magazine The Pathologist.
Yardena Samuels or Samuels-Lev is an Israeli molecular biologist who is the Director of the Ekard Institute for Cancer Diagnosis Research at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Her research considers the genetic mutations of melanoma.
Choroidal nevus is a type of eye neoplasm that is classified under choroidal tumors as a type of benign (non-cancerous) melanocytic tumor. A choroidal nevus can be described as an unambiguous pigmented blue or green-gray choroidal lesion, found at the front of the eye, around the iris, or the rear end of the eye.