Invited Speakers
Larry Benjamin
Mr Benjamin trained in Brighton, The Western Eye Hospital, Moorfields and The Oxford Eye Hospital. He was appointed as a Consultant in 1990 and since then has developed interests in Cataract surgery, the management of Diabetic Retinopathy including the use of early vitrectomy and surgical training. He was the first chairman of the Surgical Skills Sub-committee at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists during which he helped to develop the College microsurgical skills courses and chaired the committee which updated the latest College cataract surgical guidelines. He has served as the Chairman of the Education Committee and Senior Vice President of the College. He has also served as the programme secretary to the ophthalmic section of the Royal Society of Medicine and is the Immediate Past-President for this section (October 2020-2022)
He was until recently the chair of the microsurgical skills committee at the RCOphth.
He has served on the council of UKISCRS and is a past- President.
He has been a volunteer faculty member for Orbis the flying eye hospital charity and is chairman of its programme committee for Europe Middle East and Africa. He was recently co-awarded the inaugural Jack Kanski prize for an outstanding educator by the RCOphth and also an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
Charlotte Dawson
BVetMed MVetMed PGCertVetEd FHEA DipECVO MRCVS
Charlotte graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London (RVC) in 2009, and after a year in general small animal practice she went on to complete two rotating internships. The first at a private referral practice and the second at the RVC. Having also undertaken specialist training in the RVC’s Ophthalmology Service, she is now Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Ophthalmology. She has a wide clinical research interest and enjoys all aspects of veterinary ophthalmology clinical work. She is also chair of the RVC’s clinical governance committee, where she oversees all aspects of clinical quality improvement. She speaks within the RVC and externally on topics related to clinical governance, but is particularly fascinated about human factors and cognitive bias.
Chris Dixon
Chris graduated from the University of Bristol in 2004 and spent several years working in first opinion mixed practice in the North Yorkshire Moors and Cumbria before deciding to focus on ophthalmology. He is a Clinical Director of Veterinary Vision, a dedicated ophthalmology referral practice with four centres across the North of England and Scotland. Chris is the ophthalmology subject matter expert within the Linnaeus Veterinary Group and is a clinical fellow at Nottingham Trent University. Chris has a particular interest in topographical analysis of the cornea, high-resolution thermographic imaging, corneal cross linking, complex cataract management and retinal re-attachment surgery.
Dr Marta Leiva
Dr Leiva was born and raised in Barcelona, Spain, where she received her Veterinary Degree from the University Autonomous of Barcelona (UAB). She completed a small animal rotating internship, followed by a European Residency in Comparative Veterinary Ophthalmology) at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the UAB. In 2005, she was awarded the European Diploma in Veterinary Ophthalmology (ECVO dipl) and joined the Ophthalmology Service of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the UAB. She earned her PhD in 2007 from Autonomous University of Barcelona. Currently Marta is working at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Autonomous University of Barcelona as an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, where she has been training ECVO residents since 2005.
During the last years, Marta has been actively working for the ECVO, as a member of the Evaluation Residency Committee (ERC), member of the Examination Committee (EC), and member of the Executive Committee. Marta is an international lecturer and is author of multiple international and national papers, as well of different chapters in international wellknown ophthalmology books. Besides ophthalmology, she enjoys spending time with her family and exploring Catalonian outdoors with her dogs.
Rob Lowe
Rob graduated from Bristol University in 1998 having already developed an interest in ophthalmology. After a 2 year position in mixed practice, he undertook a 3 year residency at Bristol in equine ophthalmology gaining his RCVS Certificate in Ophthalmology in 2002. He then spent 3 years in a private small animal ophthalmology referral practice before founding Optivet Referrals in 2006. Optivet now operates out of five sites across the UK. Rob passed his RCVS Diploma in Veterinary Ophthalmology in 2011. He spends the majority of his clinical time with surgical glaucoma and retinal detachment cases.
Peter Wilson
BSc(Hons), MBChB, MRCSEd, PhD, FRCOphth
Born and educated in Scotland, Peter trained at Aberdeen University (1993-1999) for both his BSc(Hons) and MBChB. Thereafter he embarked on a career in surgery, working in units in England and in Scotland, and passing the MRCSEd examination. As a non-local candidate for a PhD studentship in Dundee, Peter was surprised not only to be offered the position, but at how much he thrived in an academic environment. From that springboard, he has continued to forge research relationships with distant and diverse departments, including computing (Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee) and engineering (University of Liverpool).
Much of the work for the PhD involved the capture of surgical video, and detailed review and analysis of surgical technique. This nurtured an interest in optics and surgical detail which naturally led to a transition into ophthalmology. Utilising his research skills, Peter quickly became established as a research fellow and then as a registrar in the department of ophthalmology in Dundee. This was initially to conduct a study into imaging for diabetic retinopathy, but his skills were also put to use in a range of other projects for the department.
Throughout his training in ophthalmology, Peter has continued to draw upon his experience in surgical training, ergonomics and research to develop his clinical, surgical and academic abilities. He has also developed and delivered novel teaching materials to medical students and ophthalmology trainees, as well as supervising research projects.
From July 2014 until July 2015, Peter was the fellow for cornea and anterior segment at the University of Auckland. This has involved an extensive clinical and surgical workload within a unit led by Professor Charles McGhee, with exposure to complex and novel procedures in a tertiary centre of excellence. During his registrar and fellowship training he has achieved advanced experience in complex cataract surgery, corneal transplant and trauma repair.
Since August 2015, Peter has been working as a consultant ophthalmologist in NHS Fife and Forth Valley, taking on additional roles including college tutor and educational supervisor, national lead for the Scottish Dry Eye working group, and invited speaker for courses on advanced biometry. In 2022, Peter was appointed as simulation lead for Ophthalmology and OMFS. In this role, he has developed and delivered novel courses for surgical training, including the Scottish Ophthalmology Boot Camp, and surgical skills in ophthalmology.
