Dr Imran Yusuf

Dr Imran Yusuf

MBChB(Hons), MRes, MRCP(UK), PG Dip Ed, DPhil, FRCOphth

Knoop Junior Research Fellow & Fellow in Vitreoretinal Surgery 

Imran is currently the Knoop Junior Research Fellow at St. Cross College, University of Oxford and Fellow in Vitreoretinal Surgery at Oxford Eye Hospital. His research interests are in the development of molecular therapies for untreatable retinal disorders and their translation into clinical practice.

Imran recently completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford under the joint supervision of Professor Robert MacLaren and Professor Peter Charbel Issa. He developed a new gene therapy treatment for a currently untreatable form of inherited retinal degeneration which results in blindness for which a follow-on clinical trial is anticipated. His DPhil was funded by the Medical Research Council, UK. He supports clinical trial work within the Clinical Ophthalmology Research Group in addition to contributing to the emergency retinal surgery service in Oxford and the surrounding region.

Imran completed his 7-year surgical training in Ophthalmology in the Oxford region, including the Oxford Eye Hospital, Prince Charles Eye Unit (Windsor), Royal Berkshire Hospital (Reading) and Stoke Mandeville Hospital (Aylesbury).  He graduated from Manchester Medical School in 2009 with Honours, and completed a Masters in Research degree with Distinction. He has published over the 70 papers in the peer-reviewed literature, and has won over 30 prizes in his early career including the Duke Elder Prize in Ophthalmology in 2009, awarded by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP).

Imran is a co-editor of the first edition of the Oxford Handbook of Medical School (Oxford University Press, 2019). He has an interest in medical education having completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education at the Oxford Learning Institute. He has visited Kwale District Eye Centre in Kenya on 7 occasions as part of a visiting team to provide clinical skills training and provides ongoing support in clinical research studies. He is the co-founder of the Oxford FRCOphth Part 2 course, and is the joint-founder and co-host of EyeJC, the ESCRS online journal club. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and Merton College Graduate Scholar 2019-20.

Imran is an examiner for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) and was part of the RCOphth guideline development group that made new recommendations for hydroxychloroquine retinopathy screening in the UK (2018 & 2020). He is leading a national epidemiological study of this disorder. He sits on the Programme Committee for the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS).