Current position: Professor of Ophthalmology at the The Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine (WWIEM), Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon, The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT)

https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/noemi-lois

ORCID: 0000-0003-2666-2937

Overview:

I am a clinical academic working in a large Department of Ophthalmology (0.5 FTE), serving a population of 1.4 million people.  My clinical, surgical and research activity is focused on diabetic retinopathy and vitreoretinal surgery.   

My academic portfolio includes a range of translational activities investigating mechanisms of diabetic eye disease and novel therapeutic targets.   I also have expertise in technology assessment, including primary and secondary research.     

Academic activities and outputs:

I have received public research funds from NIHR-HTA, MRC, EU Horizon 2020, Wellcome Trust, and several charities for a total of over £19m, since becoming an Academic in 2013. 

I have published over 160 peer-reviewed papers, over > 20 book chapters, and edited three books (one is on its second edition). My work has been cited over 7000 times.  My current Scopus h-index is 47.

I have been guest speaker at numerous National and International meetings taking place in Canada, China, Denmark. Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, USA and the UK. 

I am supervisor of PhD, MSc and BSc students as well as of medical students.  I am principal coordinator of a Student Selected Component Course (SSC) for first year QUB Medical Students, and I teach at this course.

I as a member of the Evidence Review Groups (ERGs) of the University of Aberdeen, the British Medical Journal, and the University of Warwick, in 10 Single Technology Appraisals (STAs) for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), UK, on new therapies for retinal diseases.

I was a member of the NICE committee that developed the guideline for diabetic retinopathy (https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng242). 

Member of the Editorial Board of the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group.

Named lectures and awards

• King James IV Professorship, awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2024.
• Meyer-Schwickerath Lecture at the 36^th International Congress of German Ophthalmic Surgeons (DOC) in Nuremberg, Germany, 2024.
• Mila Oh’s Memorial Lecture at the 2025 annual meeting of the Canadian Retina Society, Vancouver, Canada, 2025.

Recent publicly funded grants:

• Treatment of severe Diabetic macular oedema with Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) monotherapy versus treatment with Anti-VEGF followed by subthreshold Micropulse lasEr when the thickness of the central retina goes below 400 microns: a pragmatic randomised equivalence trial (DAME). Funded by the HTA-NIHR (NIHR157427); Start/End dates 01/04/2024-9/30/2028; £2,060,563.00; Chief Investigator.
• Clinical- and cost-effectiveness, safety, and acceptability of COMBined phacovitrectomy, versus sequentiAl viTrectomy and cataract surgery, for the management of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: A Randomised Equivalence Clinical Trial (COMBAT). Funded by the HTA-NIHR (NIHR161891), Start/End dates 1/11/2024-10/31/2028 £2,507,530.00 ; Chief Investigator.
• Retinal and cognitive dysfunction in type 2 diabetes: unraveling the common pathways and identification of patients at risk of dementia (RECOGNISED): Funded by EU H2020 with € 5.9m; start date 1 January 2020. Co-Lead and Co-Coordinator of the consortium and co-applicant.
• Vitrectomy, subretinal Tissue plasminogen activator and Intravitreal Gas for submacular haemorrhage secondary to Exudative age-Related macular degeneration (TIGER): a European randomised controlled surgical trial. Funded by EURETINA-Fight for Sight with £1,799,779. Co-applicant. 1st Jan 2020 to end Dec 2024.
• EMERALD: HTA Project: 15/42/08 - Effectiveness of Multimodal imaging for the Evaluation of Retinal oedema And New vesseLs in Diabetic retinopathy (EMERALD). Funded by the NIHR with £807,895.53; 2017-2020; Chief Investigator
• DIAMONDS: Diabetic Macular Oedema aNd Diode Subthreshold micropulse laser. Funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) with £1,086,490.56; 2016-2021; Chief Investigator
• PEARL: Performance of Early Retinal Laser (PEARL) for Diabetic Retinopathy. Funded by the Medical Research Council with £127,978.00; 01/09/2016 → 31/08/2018; co-applicant.
• Ophthalmic Anatomy and Cellular Biology (Doctorate - PHD - Meiaad Dahmi A Khayat - K1452). Funded by the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia: £101,716.00 (2017-2020).