Eyes On Tomorrow

This month we’re bringing together three powerhouse women shaping the future of eye care: Purvi Thomson, Head Optometrist at OCL Vision; Bita Manzouri, Consultant Corneal and Cataract Surgeon and President-Elect of UKISCRS; and Elizabeth Lumb, Director of Global Professional Affairs, Myopia, at CooperVision.
Recorded just after International Women’s Day, this special panel episode is an honest, inspiring and thought-provoking conversation about the realities of leadership for women across optometry, ophthalmology and industry.
Together, they explore why visibility matters, how Covid transformed working patterns, the pressure of balancing careers and caregiving, and the crucial role played by mentors, allies and sponsors. They also tackle the persistent challenge of imposter syndrome and the unconscious bias that still exists in today’s workplace.
The message is clear: huge progress has been made over the past 20 years — but there is still more to do to ensure women can truly reach their full potential.
This is a conversation about resilience, change and what comes next.
Get access to bonus episodes, along with a host of CPD resources, when you subscribe for only £25 per year at https://eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe
Thanks to Topcon Healthcare and Thea UK for supporting Eyes on Tomorrow.
Produced by Matt Hill at Rethink Audio.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe

Are Neuroprotection and Neural Regeneration therapies coming of age? Professor Keith Martin, Director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia, shares how cutting-edge  research in neuroprotection and neural regeneration could transform how we treat glaucoma.

Tracing his journey from his PhD work with Harry Quigley in Baltimore, through the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, to leading CERA in Melbourne, Keith explores breakthroughs that move beyond pressure control — targeting the health and recovery of retinal ganglion cells themselves.

Emerging approaches include:

Delivering neurotrophic growth factors to protect retinal ganglion cells
Using Vitamin B3 to reduce oxidative stress
Activating intrinsic growth pathways to regenerate optic nerve axons
Transplanting stem-cell–derived retinal ganglion cells to restore lost vision

Keith also challenges long-standing practices in  glaucoma care. Are clinicians wasting time and resources  over-treating mild disease that may never threaten vision? And why are we still treating  primary open-angle glaucoma as one condition, rather than defining the distinct phenotypes and providing personalised therapy?

The future, he argues, lies in combination therapy: pairing traditional IOP control with regenerative and neuroprotective treatments to stop — and potentially reverse — vision loss.

Bonus Content
This month’s Bonus episode for subscribers includes insights into;

How OCT is reshaping glaucoma referrals in optometric practice
AI models outperforming specialists in predicting visual field loss from disc OCT appearances 
Home monitoring for IOP and visual fields
A promising new glaucoma device on the horizon
One thing is clear: the future of glaucoma care goes far beyond just lowering the IOP.
Get access to this Bonus episode, along with a host of CPD resources, when you subscribe for only £25 per year at https://eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe
Thanks to Topcon Healthcare and Thea UK for supporting Eyes on Tomorrow.
Produced by Matt Hill at Rethink Audio.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe

The work of the BONSAI (Brain and Optic Nerve Study with Artificial Intelligence) group will change the way we pratice. So a perfect time, then, to meet Dan Milea, Head of Neuro-ophthalmology at the Rothschild Foundation Hospital in Paris, Head of the Visual Neuroscience Group at the Singapore Eye Research Institute, and a founding member of the BONSAI group.
Recorded in his Parisian offices within the iconic L’Espace Niemeyer - the striking headquarters of the French Communist Party - Dermot and John explore how groundbreaking AI and deep learning algorithms, developed by the BONSAI collaborators, could transform the way clinicians navigate some of neuro-ophthalmology’s most challenging diagnostic dilemmas.
Together, we unpack the questions clinicians face every day:
* Does this child with headaches have papilloedema?
* Is an elderly patient’s optic disc swelling arteritic or non-arteritic AION?
* Could this suspected optic neuritis be due to demyelination?
Dan also reflects on the striking differences in the incidence of optic neuritis, giant cell arteritis, and idiopathic intracranial hypertension between the Far East and Europe and why, when 50% of neuro-ophthalmological emergencies are misdiagnosed at presentation, the growing global shortage of neuro-ophthalmologists is of grave concern.
Bonus Content
Subscribers can dive deeper in our Bonus episode, where we discuss the rising tide of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in the West, the emerging therapeutic role of GLP-1 agonists, and explore three of Dan’s most influential papers featured in this month’s newsletter.
Join us for a fascinating look at how East meets West - and how AI may soon be available to support clinical decision making and improve diagnostic accuracy, for many common neuro-ophthalmic conditions.
Eyes on Tomorrow is supported by Topcon Healthcare and Thea UK.
Produced by Matt Hill at Rethink Audio.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in eye care — it’s already influencing how we image, diagnose and think about disease.
In this episode of Eyes on Tomorrow, we were joined by Pearse Keane, Professor of Artificial Medical Intelligence at UCL and Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
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We discuss:
• How #AI is being validated and used in real-world retinal practice
• What advanced OCT analysis means for clinical decision-making
• The emergence of Oculomics and why eye data may tell us far more than we think
• How clinicians should engage with AI — critically, safely and pragmatically
This is a practical, grounded conversation for optometrists, ophthalmologists and eye-care leaders navigating where innovation meets everyday clinical care.
▶️ Watch the full episode now
#EyesOnTomorrow #Ophthalmology #Optometry #MedicalAI #OCT #RetinalImaging #DigitalOphthalmology #FutureOfEyeCare #ClinicalInnovation


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe

In 1964, Captain James T. Kirk set the tone for a generation when he declared: “Space—the final frontier….to explore strange new worlds…. to boldly go where no man has gone before.” Today, that spirit of exploration has found a new frontier — not in space, but in the human eye.
In this episode of Eyes on Tomorrow, we’re joined by Professor Pearse Keane, Professor of Artificial Medical Intelligence at UCL. Like a modern-day Captain Kirk, Pearse is leading ophthalmology on a voyage of discovery, using AI to take us to truly “strange new worlds” — and revealing what the retina can tell us about our risk of systemic disease.
Pearse explains why ophthalmology is uniquely placed to ride the AI wave, and how a speculative LinkedIn message sparked a collaboration with Mustafa Suleyman that led to the groundbreaking partnership between Moorfields Eye Hospital and Google DeepMind.
We explore the rise of oculomics, from predicting age and sex using a single colour fundus photograph, to using large language models and retinal imaging to stratify risk for cardiovascular and neurological disease. We also tackle the ethical challenges this technology raises, including data protection, and look ahead to how AI will bring optometrists, primary care doctors, and hospital specialists closer together than ever before.
It may sound like science fiction, but this is science fact. This conversation offers a glimpse into a “brave new world” that’s closer than we think.
Bonus subscriber content
In this month’s bonus episode Pearse discusses RETFound, the first foundation model in medicine, capable of predicting myocardial infarction, heart failure, and ischaemic stroke from unlabelled retinal images. Pearse tells us how, by making this AI open-source, it is democratising access to this transformative technology.
Get access to this Bonus episode, along with a host of CPD resources, when you subscribe for only £25 per year at eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe.
Eyes on Tomorrow is supported by Topcon Healthcare and Thea UK.
Produced by Matt Hill at Rethink Audio.


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eyesontomorrow.substack.com/subscribe