The UK’s position as a world leader in ophthalmic data science has received a major boost with the announcement of £3.7 million in funding to expand INSIGHT, the world’s largest collection of curated eye imaging and linked clinical data.
The investment, awarded jointly by UK Research and Innovation’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will allow INSIGHT to grow from its base at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, into a "truly national resource." The initiative aims to link NHS ophthalmic data sites across the country, accelerating research, improving patient care, and supporting innovation in eye health and oculomics — the study of ocular biomarkers that reflect systemic disease.
Over the next four years, the project — delivered through Moorfields’ strategic partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology — will onboard new NHS sites, beginning with Sunderland Eye Infirmary, in collaboration with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and the North East and North Cumbria Secure Data Environment. INSIGHT will also integrate genetic data from the NIHR BioResource and UK Biobank, creating a powerful infrastructure for linking eye imaging to wider health datasets, including those related to dementia and cardiovascular disease.
The investment, awarded jointly by UK Research and Innovation’s Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will allow INSIGHT to grow from its base at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, into a "truly national resource." The initiative aims to link NHS ophthalmic data sites across the country, accelerating research, improving patient care, and supporting innovation in eye health and oculomics — the study of ocular biomarkers that reflect systemic disease.
Over the next four years, the project — delivered through Moorfields’ strategic partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology — will onboard new NHS sites, beginning with Sunderland Eye Infirmary, in collaboration with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and the North East and North Cumbria Secure Data Environment. INSIGHT will also integrate genetic data from the NIHR BioResource and UK Biobank, creating a powerful infrastructure for linking eye imaging to wider health datasets, including those related to dementia and cardiovascular disease.
“This funding allows us to expand INSIGHT from Moorfields Eye Hospital into a truly national resource, with significant benefits for clinical research and public health," The Ophthalmologist Power Lister Pearse Keane, who serves as INSIGHT Director and Professor of Artificial Medical Intelligence at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. "By providing a comprehensive, interoperable research resource for ophthalmic data, we can help to accelerate research discoveries, bring new treatments to patients faster, and ultimately reduce the burden of sight-threatening disease in the UK and globally.”
The expansion will increase the INSIGHT dataset from 30 million to 50 million images, surpassing the combined holdings of the top three US centers and cementing the UK’s leadership in ophthalmic data innovation.
Chief Executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital, Peter Ridley, added: “The potential of NHS data to improve patient outcomes and tackle health inequalities is immense. We are proud that the INSIGHT Hub has led the way in harnessing routinely collected NHS eye imaging data for medical research, demonstrating how patient data can be optimized for research in a safe and secure way, involving patients and members of the public in decision-making. With this grant funding, we anticipate entering an exciting new phase in the Hub’s development, supporting the UK’s ambitions as a global leader in healthcare technology.”
The award is one of five announced by UKRI MRC and NIHR to enhance the UK’s biomedical data infrastructure, positioning ophthalmology at the forefront of the nation’s data-driven healthcare revolution.
Source: UCL
The expansion will increase the INSIGHT dataset from 30 million to 50 million images, surpassing the combined holdings of the top three US centers and cementing the UK’s leadership in ophthalmic data innovation.
Chief Executive of Moorfields Eye Hospital, Peter Ridley, added: “The potential of NHS data to improve patient outcomes and tackle health inequalities is immense. We are proud that the INSIGHT Hub has led the way in harnessing routinely collected NHS eye imaging data for medical research, demonstrating how patient data can be optimized for research in a safe and secure way, involving patients and members of the public in decision-making. With this grant funding, we anticipate entering an exciting new phase in the Hub’s development, supporting the UK’s ambitions as a global leader in healthcare technology.”
The award is one of five announced by UKRI MRC and NIHR to enhance the UK’s biomedical data infrastructure, positioning ophthalmology at the forefront of the nation’s data-driven healthcare revolution.
Source: UCL
