Anthony Khawaja
The Power List 2020 – Power List
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK
Your three wishes?
All my wishes are related to improving glaucoma care, and are naively unrealistic for the near future! My first wish would be to achieve a very safe and effective surgical treatment for glaucoma. Trabeculectomy and aqueous shunts are very effective, but we do not carry them out on all patients due to the risk of complications. MIGS are potentially safer, but currently lack strong efficacy. Achieving a safe “10-10-10” would be a massive game-changer globally.
My next wish would be that all ophthalmic practices adopt the same EMR globally. Harnessing the power of harmonized real-world data from all corners of the world would teach us a huge amount.
My third wish would be that medical practice moves towards genotyping of all patients. Given the cost can be so low, and potentially inform screening and treatment decisions for a broad range of diseases, I believe this will be cost effective. The opportunity for further research in parallel with personalizing care is huge and exciting!
Piece of advice for your younger self?
I don't actually have many regrets. Advice I would generally give young colleagues: be ambitious, with determination you may be surprised what you can achieve!
The most unexpected turn your career took?
Actually, my research career was a surprise turn. I reached almost the end of my training with barely any research outputs, and my strengths were always considered surgical and clinical. Taking four years out for a PhD program completely changed my focus and my life.
