UCL IoO annual award lecture

The IoO Annual Award Lecture was established in 2018 to honour scientists who have made outstanding contributions in the field of Ophthalmology and visual science. The lecture is part of the IoO day when awards are also given to Institute and Moorfields/Institute associated staff to recognize academic, teaching and collegiality activities. A new award from the NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre will recognise excellence in Public and Patient Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) in research. 

Prof Smith is Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor in Eye & Vision Health at the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University, Australia. Her talk for this lecture is titled “Mechanisms of Ocular Toxoplasmosis”.

Prof Smith is an internationally recognised Clinician Scientist who specializes in the investigation of causes, effects and treatment of uveitis and inflammation of the eye. Her work extends to infection by parasites and viruses, and ocular cancers. Through her academic career, she has made important discoveries on the mechanisms of infectious uveitis. Her scientific research has led to the development of clinical trials on the use of biological drugs to reduce vision loss from non-infectious uveitis. 

She was the president of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in the year 2013-2014 and currently she is the Executive Vice-President of the same organization. She is a past President of the American Uveitis Society, and serves on the Board of the International Council of Ophthalmology and the International Ocular Inflammation Society. She is also an editorial board member for multiple journals, including Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.

In 2017 Professor Smith was named a Superstar of STEM by Science and Technology Australia and is a passionate advocate for supporting girls and women to pursue careers in science.

This lecture is open to all. If you are not part of the IoO and would like to attend, please email j.english@ucl.ac.uk to request the link to the online event.