ICO Winter Meeting & Annual Montgomery Lecture 2021-virtual

Prof John Dart has been researching Acanthamoeba keratitis disease for 30 years.  Although it is a relatively rare disease most ophthalmologists will have seen a case and know how severe it is.  Prof Dart began his research on the condition in the mid 1980’s when cases first started to increase and in his lecture, will discuss what he, and others, have done to answer the questions about the causes, environmental factors, development of diagnostic techniques and development of treatments from then to the preliminary results of their current treatment trial.
The focus will be on how a clinical research programme developed as a response to a new disease and an insight into what can be achieved.

Prof John KG Dart MA DM FRCOphth
Hon. Consultant Ophthalmologist, Hon. Professor, University College London, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London

John Dart has been a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital since 1987 and an Honorary Professor of UCL, at the Institute of Ophthalmology since 2011, providing a tertiary referral service for patients with Corneal and External diseases until 2020 when he retired from clinical work. He has continued with his research focused principally on microbial keratitis and cicatrising conjunctivitis. His current studies, including a Phase II/III randomized trial of a new formulation of PHMB for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis, are aimed at providing the first licensed therapy for this disease, and the development of topical ALDH inhibition to control the unmet need of scarring in cicatrising conjunctivitis. He has over 220 peer-reviewed publications, has trained 38 Corneal and External disease Fellows and 8 PhD/MD students; four of these now hold Chairs in Ophthalmology or Optometry. He has given 19 eponymous lectures including the EuCornea Medal 2015, the Bowman Medal (RCOphth) 2016 and the Castroviejo Medal (Corneal Society) 2019.