Jules François Lecture

Professor Clare Gilbert (MB ChB., FRCOphth., MD., MSc) initially trained as a vitreoretinal surgeon in the UK. Since 1990 she has worked at the International Centre for Eye Health, at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where she Co-Directs the group of academics working on eye health, focussing on low and middle income countries. Her roles include research, teaching, supervising Masters and PhD students, and providing input to the planning and evaluation of eye care programmes. Her main research interest is blindness in children in low and middle income countries, including ROP and she has undertaken studies in collaboration with colleagues in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Current projects include the evaluation of integrating primary eye care for children into Maternal and Child Health Clinics in Tanzania; clinical trials for refractive error in Indian school children, and an analysis of factors which led to the decline in blindness due to ROP in Argentina. Clare has published 20 book chapters and has over 250 publications in peer reviewed journals. 

Clare is Research Advisor in Eye Health for Sightsavers, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Vision Impact Institute, is USAID Child Blindness Program Senior Advisor, and Scientific Advisor to the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust (the Trust). Clare is currently assisting the Trust to plan and implement two five year programs in India: for the control of ROP and for diabetic retinopathy in partnership with the Public Health Foundation of India. 

Clare has received the following awards:  the American Academy of Ophthalmology's International Prevention of Blindness Award (2011), Lighthouse International's Pisart Vision Award (2012) and the L'Occitane Foundation's Sight Award (2014).