Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology established an Ophthalmic Image Reading Centre (MEHRC) in 2001. The unit plays an active role in research as many clinical trials in the field of ophthalmology need accurate and objective phenotyping, and this is what the Reading Centre provides. It can also establish the range in measurement variability that in turn allows development of measuring data and the recognition of change.

The centre has a clinical lead, a full time permanent senior clinician-scientist and a yearly fellowship that allows for training the next generation. There are three full-time graders, five PhD students and several honorary fellows. Administrative work is carried out by two administrative personnel, while data is managed by our dedicated data manager.

The centre plays an active role in diabetic retinopathy screening from training to delivering quality assurance. It is very active in population-based and natural history studies and this allows for a wide range of imaging modalities to be graded. A wide range of training opportunities are also provided ranging from photography to grading and for clinicians to enable them to undertake their own research. The expertise of its staff is sought by institutions both at home and abroad.

As part of DR-NET, a network established between 17 eye institutions in ten Commonwealth countries, the centre has worked with sites across the world in either a research or technical support capacity. On the map below, orange marks those sites the centre has worked with whilst green marks other sites involved in DR-NET.

The unit now forms part of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology.