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Professor, Sir Peng Khaw

Peng Khaw

Areas of Interest

Science and Technology

Honorary Award

Honorary Doctor of Science

Biography

Professor Khaw is Director of the National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Professor of Glaucoma and Ocular Healing. He recently completed his term as President of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, which is the world's largest eye research organisation. He was the first UK-based president in the organisation's 85-year history.

Professor Khaw's specialist area is the surgical treatment of glaucoma, particularly paediatric glaucoma. He has led the development of innovative drug delivery systems, ground-breaking stem cell therapies and inexpensive single-application anti-scarring treatments. He and his team have also developed a range of new surgical techniques, including the Moorfields Safer Surgery System, which has been adopted by surgeons and improved the outcome for patients worldwide.

Alongside recognition within the medical community for Professor Khaw's work, he has also increasingly been recognised by a wider audience and in 2013 was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to ophthalmology.

Professor Khaw has published more than 350 academic papers and books, and been named as one of the leading lights in The Times Top Doctors list.



Citation

"Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to read the citation for Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw for the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa.

Professor Khaw is Director of the National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and Professor of Glaucoma and Ocular Healing. He recently completed his term as President of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, which is the world's largest eye research organisation. He was the first UK-based president in the organisation's 85-year history.

Professor Khaw's early education took place in Kuala Lumpur, then in 1970 he came to the UK where he attended Marlborough College. He went on to medical school at the University of Southampton, and to train in both general medicine and ophthalmology. At the end of his clinical training, he decided to carry out a PhD In the cell and molecular biology of ocular wound healing at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, and the University of Florida in the United States.

In 1987, he joined Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, where he was appointed as a consultant in 1993 and as a professor in 1998.

Professor Khaw's specialist area is the surgical treatment of the glaucomas, particularly paediatric glaucoma. He has led the development of innovative drug delivery systems, ground-breaking stem cell therapies, and inexpensive single-application anti-scarring treatments. He and his team have also developed a range of new surgical techniques, including the Moorfields Safer Surgery System, which has been adopted by surgeons and improved the outcome of patients worldwide.

Professor Khaw has delivered lectures around the globe and won numerous international awards, including the prestigious ARVO Pfizer Translational Medicine Prize. He is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, Royal College of Ophthalmologists, Royal College of Surgeons, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Pathologists, College of Optometrists and the Society of Biologists. He has published more than 350 academic papers and books, and been named as one of the leading lights in The Times Top Doctors list.

Despite such a full agenda, Professor Khaw has still managed to find time to support a number of deserving causes, helping to raise over £100 million for buildings and research. He was the main fundraiser for the Richard Desmond Children's Eye Centre at Moorfields, the world?s largest children's eye hospital, and the world's largest eye and vision clinical research centre.

Alongside recognition within the medical community for Professor Khaw's work, he has also increasingly been recognised by a wider audience, and in 2013 he was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his services to ophthalmology.

Professor Khaw has for many years worked tirelessly to preserve and restore the sight of visually impaired children and adults, and his work has improved the lives of countless people and their families around the world. Vision and eye research is one of our most prominent research areas, and with his academic, clinical, research and fundraising achievements, Professor Khaw will be an outstanding role model for our students.

Vice Chancellor, it is my pleasure to present Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw for the award of Doctor of Science, honoris causa."