Professor Anthony Khawaja

Anthony is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon practicing at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, where he specialises in the medical and surgical care of patients with glaucoma and cataract. He is also a Professor at University College London where he leads an active research programme aiming to improve the care of patients with glaucoma and other common eye diseases. Anthony is an internationally recognised leader in his field and has been consistently voted in the top 100 most influential thought leaders in ophthalmology globally. Among numerous prestigious awards, he has been granted a UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship to support his research programme which aims to enable personalised care of glaucoma patients.

Anthony holds leadership positions in major international glaucoma societies, and is a frequently invited speaker globally. This enables Anthony to discuss the very latest evidence for best care and treatment options with his patients.

His special interests include:

- Surgical innovations for glaucoma, including the Hydrus Microstent, iStent, PreserFlo MicroShunt, PAUL Glaucoma Implant. Anthony has chaired a European panel of experts to create a consensus best practice guide for PreserFlo MicroShunt use.

- Laser treatments for glaucoma, including selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), laser iridotomy and cyclodiode laser. Anthony has led one of the largest real-world effectiveness studies of SLT and aims to provide personalised treatment plans, only recommending laser for patients who are likely to benefit.

- Treatment options for narrow angles.  Recent evidence suggests that not all patients with narrow angles require laser iridotomy. Anthony provides personalised recommendations for each patient to help decide whether the small risks of laser are necessary. He has co-authored patient information leaflets on Laser Iridotomy and Narrow Angles (click on either to download PDFs).

- Cataract surgery in glaucoma patients.  Cataract surgery can be more complex in patients with glaucoma, but also offers the opportunity carry out minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (“MIGS”) at the time of surgery to help lower eye pressure. Anthony specialises in trabecular meshwork bypass procedures which can significantly lower eye pressure with minimal additional risk. This can result in better control of disease, a
reduction in eye drops needed and delaying the need for glaucoma surgery. He has been an invited speaker internationally on combining cataract surgery with the Hydrus Microstent and iStent.

- Surgical training. Anthony is a keen surgical educator and has trained numerous cohorts of trainees and fellows at Moorfields Eye Hospital, and also lectured on surgical practice nationally and internationally.

- Glaucoma genetics and heritability.  Anthony’s research group are world-leaders in the field of glaucoma genetics (how glaucoma is inherited) and have published landmark studies which have discovered the genetic causes of glaucoma. His aim is to predict glaucoma risk from affordable genetic testing, to allow earlier detection and to personalise care.

- Lifestyle and other modifiable factors associated with glaucoma. While the major cause of glaucoma is genetic, Anthony has led a global collaboration to identify lifestyle and other factors that can reduce the risk of glaucoma. He has led investigations regarding dietary factors like caffeine and alcohol, as well as blood pressure and hypertension medications, menopause and HRT, and physical activity.