Breaking down barriers to good eye health is at the heart of what Professor Pete Shah of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) does. Part of this is establishing the International Sandwich Glaucoma Fellowship Program at the Birmingham Institute for Glaucoma Research, based at the Institute for Translational Medicine (ITM), based on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) site.

One of the latest successes comes in the form of the collaboration with Dr Desiree Murray, a Senior Lecturer in Trinidad, specialising in Glaucoma, who also has a Masters in Public Health from the London School of Tropical Medicine. Dr Murray has had a long-term association with the Research into Glaucoma And Ethnicity (ReGAE) team and the Birmingham Institute for Glaucoma Research, since completing an International Glaucoma Fellowship with Prof Shah.

Prof Shah explained: “Building international links for the Birmingham Institute for Glaucoma Research is part of a 10-15 year long process. I’m delighted to say that Dr Murray has recently put together an innovative video abstract to accompany the ReGAE 12 trial in 'Clinical Ophthalmology'. This is a landmark paper, demonstrating the transfer of surgical skills across different continents and areas with different levels of income and deprivation, and we are all very proud of it.”

The ReGAE 12 trial is a multi-phase, multi-disciplinary program aiming to prevent avoidable glaucoma blindness in diverse communities and also involves sharing the results globally.

Prof Shah and Dr Murray are now performing qualitative research studies into the barriers to implementation of new glaucoma surgical technologies in the Caribbean and the strategies associated with successful skill and technology transfer.

Prof Shah said: “I’ve been committed to improving eye health in disadvantaged communities throughout my career. I also lead a team of ophthalmologists linking up with Moshi in Tanzania, running an International Sandwich Glaucoma Fellowship Program and have found this work incredibly rewarding.

“We have also just completed recruitment to a randomised controlled trial of medical therapy vs SLT laser treatment of glaucoma in Tanzania, with Dr Heiko Philippin as Chief Investigator. Heiko, based in Tanzania, completed his Fellowship with me across two continents and I now act as his long-term mentor and we have become firm friends.”