Dedicated ophthalmologist awarded MBE for services to patients

Professor Simon Harding, Consultant Ophthalmologist at LUHFT, has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Queen's New Year’s Honours List.

Professor Harding who received the honour in recognition of his life’s work dedicated to services for the prevention of blindness, has worked at St Paul’s Eye Unit since 1981. Over the last 30 years he has been instrumental in a number of significant research and clinical breakthroughs for patients who require specialist eye care.

Professor Harding said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to receive an MBE. It’s been an honour to work in St Paul’s and support patients by introducing pioneering treatments based on cutting-edge research. This not only benefits our patients here in Liverpool but also around the world. For me it hasn’t really been a job but a passion, and to be recognised in this way is truly remarkable.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do my work without the tremendous support of an incredible team of friends and colleagues. And of course, the research I’ve led couldn’t have happened without the thousands of people who have volunteered to join our research studies.”

Prof Harding at Chiradzulu District Hospital in Southern Malawi with colleague, Phillip Burgess in 2017.

One of Professor Harding’s goals was to create a more effective pathway to bring new medical treatments from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside. This passion for improving research for the benefit of his patients saw him establish St Paul’s Eye Unit’s Clinical Eye Research Centre (CERC) in 2014.

The CERC linked the Trust and University of Liverpool teams together to develop stronger clinical engagement and expertise, and conduct world leading research, hosting over 70 pioneering trials, and is now involved in every major ophthalmic trial being undertaken in Europe.

Among his many achievements, Professor Harding was instrumental in establishing the first diabetic eye screening programme in the UK and it’s now replicated in over 20 countries around the world, saving the sight of thousands of diabetic patients.

Prof Harding at Lions Eye Hospital in Blantyre, 2016.

In Malawi, Professor Harding developed pioneering techniques to accurately diagnose cerebral malaria. The disease kills around 500,000 children each year in Sub-Saharan Africa through causing severe brain swelling and the rapid onset of a coma.

Professor Harding also introduced the first effective treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the

UK, which is now widely available throughout the world. AMD is the greatest cause of blindness in the western world and affects around 600,000 people in the UK alone.