Noemi Lois
The Power List 2021 – Power List
Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Queens University and an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
What is your proudest professional achievement?
I feel the proudest when I see patients doing well and recovering vision after difficult vitreoretinal surgical procedures. The reward of giving or improving sight cannot be surpassed by anything else.
What can be done to make the field more diverse?
We should ensure that, from the very beginning, all children have access to high-quality free education so that they can fulfil their full potential. If everybody has the same opportunity, diversity would be the norm – as it should be. If this does not happen, it is unlikely that there would be diversity in our field or in any other.
Outside of ophthalmology, what makes you happy?
Many things, but the one that makes me happier is being with my family. I have many hobbies (too many to keep up!); I love music and art. I like playing piano, guitar, and singing in a choir, though not much of the latter recently, unfortunately, with the pandemic. I could spend hours painting landscapes. I am also a keen gardener. I will have a lot to do when I retire….