Robert MacLaren

Robert MacLaren

Robert E. MacLaren FRCOph FRCS VR is an English ophthalmologist.

He is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford and Honorary Professor of Ophthalmology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Oxford Eye Hospital, an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Great Ormond Street Hospital and a Consultant Vitreo-retinal Surgeon at the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust. He is a Faculty member and a Founding research-theme leader of the NIHR Moorfields - UCL Institute of Ophthalmology Biomedical Research Centre, also known as the BCR for Ophthalmology, and - in 2016 - he was also appointed an NIHR Senior Investigator, or lead researcher, for Ophthalmology. MacLaren is also a Fellow of Merton College, in Oxford.

Early Life

MacLaren was educated at the University of Edinburgh.

Ophthalmologist

MacLaren has been described as 'one of the stars' of the developing inter-disciplinary field of ophthalmic translational medicine (TM).

Surgeon

MacLaren is a pioneer in robot-assisted surgery for ophthalmic operations. He is also one of the first surgeons in the world to have made a successful retinal implant for visual prosthesis, sometimes described as creating a 'bionic eye'.

Researcher

In 2016, MacLaren was appointed a Senior Investigator, or lead researcher, for Opthalmology by the NHS National Institute for Health Research. His clinical and laboratory research efforts are focussed on the forms of blindness that are currently incurable. He is working on an understanding of the causes of retinal degeneration, in order to slow, arrest or ameliorate the processes, with the eventual aim of reversing the effects. Current research concentrates on two areas: retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and photoreceptors, and is looking at replacement methods for either, or both, to improve patient outcomes.

Academic

The teaching and research Faculties of the University of Oxford are grouped into four great Divisions. The Division of Medical Sciences is one of the largest, containing some thirty departments or institutions, including:

• the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
• the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology.

Soldier

Professor MacLaren is also a commissioned officer in Group A - the units fit for operational service - of the Territorial Army, now Army Reserve, of the British Army. As a qualified doctor, he served as a Medical Officer (MO) in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He achieved the rank of Major.

Having served as a member of the Volunteer Reserves for more than a decade, Major MacLaren, RAMC qualifies for the post-nominals: VR.

Publications

Books

Papers

• 2006-11-09: Nature: Retinal repair by replacement of photoreceptor precursors.
• 2006-03-01: Nature: Effective gene therapy with nonintegrating lentiviral vectors.