Systematic Review Award

Farhad Hafezi is a cataract & refractive surgeon and ocular cell biologist. Combing patient care, research & development, and teaching, Hafezi is considered a pioneer and key opinion leader of corneal cross-linking (CXL).

Hafezi is one of the most cited ophthalmologists of his generation. (> 260 peer-reviewed publications, h index of 60, > 16.000 citations, cumulative impact factor 1.020 points.
 
·       Hafezi holds professorships at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), the University of Southern California Los Angeles (USA), New York University (NYU) and Wenzhou University (China). 
·       He is the former Chairman of the Dept. of Ophthalmology of the University of Geneva, Switzerland.
·       He was voted 5 times onto the biennial PowerList100 since its start in 2014. 
·       Since 2018, he is a FARVO, a fellow of ARVO (Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology).
·       Hafezi is Associate Editor of the JRS (Journal of Refractive Surgery) and is a present or past member of the editorial board of BMC Ophthalmology, Current Eye Research. European Journal of Ophthalmology, Eye and Vision., Translational Vision Science and Technology (TVST)
·       Hafezi has won more than 35 national and international awards, including the Carl Camras Translational Research Award of ARVO, the Casebeer Award of ISRS/AAO and the highest ophthalmological awards in Belgium and Switzerland.
·       Prof. Hafezi has commercialized CXL technology with the focus on democratizing access to treatment. (https://www.emagine-eye.com)
·       Prof. Hafezi is co-founder of an international charity, the Light for Sight Foundation, that is dedicated to stopping preventable blindness among children and adolescents with keratoconus. (https://lightforsight.org/)

For a complete bio, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhad_Hafezi

Professor Bruce Allan qualified in medicine from Cambridge in 1985, and was appointed as a Consultant Surgeon at Moorfields in 1998 after advanced specialist training in the UK, South Africa, and Australia. He was Training Director for the Corneal Service at Moorfields for over 10 years, and Service Director for Refractive Surgery from 2012 to 2019. He is currently chairing the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Refractive Surgery Standards Working Group and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) Digital Health Special Interest Group. He is an ESCRS Council and EU Cornea board member. 
He and his wife, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Maria Teresa Casasus Borrell, live in North London with regular visits from their 3 daughters, Saskia, Sofia and Silvia. Outside work, He is a keen football fan and sailor. 

Professional activities include:
•    NHS practice specialising in cataract and corneal surgery
•    Private practice specialising in refractive surgery (laser vision correction, ICL implantation, RLE, restoring near vision)
•    Regular presentations at international research meetings, press, radio and television comment on developments in corneal transplantation, cataract and refractive surgery
•    Peer review for international medical journals and research grant funding bodies
•    Specialist advice for NICE and MHRA
 
Current research interests include:
•    Applications of Deep Learning to anterior segment eye disease
•    Enhancing treatment accuracy in laser vision correction
•    Laser assisted corneal transplantation
•    Early intervention and visual rehabilitation in keratoconus

Prof. Dr. CN Grupcheva MD, PhD, FEBO, FICO, FIACLE, FBCLA, Cor.Mem. BAS.
Bulgarian Academy of Science, UMBAL"Medica" Russe, Centre for Vision and Education, Grupchevi PLUS 

Prof. Dr. CN Grupcheva MD, PhD, FEBO, FICO, FIACLE, FBCLA is a Bulgarian medical doctor, specialist in ophthalmology since 1996. She continued her studies with short fellowships at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London and Dundee University, UK. In 2000 she relocated to New Zealand as a Senior Research Fellow at Auckland University for three years. During that period she completed a PhD with high commendations and the Best Doctorial Thesis Prize of Auckland University for 2002. She returned to her home country to serve as a high level academic and medical director. During her career she served as the Head of ophthalmology for 12 years and Vice Recor for 10. She is corresponding member of the Bulgarian Academy of Science and active member of esteemed learned societies as Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis, European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (elected council member), TFOS ambasador and more. She has published more than 200 scientific papers and 17 ophthalmology books.

She has an H index of 48 and more than 3000 citations. Professor Grupcheva is/was a supervisor of 28 PhD students and 22 residents in ophthalmology. She is the past president of the European Board of Ophthalmology and
current President of Bulgarian Ophthalmological Society. 

Gianni Virgili is Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Florence, and has been Clinical Professor at The Centre for Public Health, Queen’s University Belfast, honorary consultant at Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (2021-June 2023). He has beewn Director of the Ophthalmology Residency Programme, and leads the  clinical unit SOD Ottica Fisiopatologica, and is Coordinator of the regional Center for Vision Education and Rehabilitation at the Careggi Hospital in Florence, Italy. He has been a medical retina specialist since 1992.
 
He achieved a Master’s degree in Epidemiology at the University of Turin, Italy, in 2005 and has received extensive training in biostatistics and research methods, particularly in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. In support of the Hospital Medical Management he could also develop health management skills and knowledge of performance indicators and administrative hospital data across all medical specialties. He is collaborating with the Regional Health Agency in pharmacoepidemiology studies in Tuscany. Gianni is an experienced user of Stata biostatistical software, including for meta-analyses. He also uses Winbugs to fit Bayesian meta-analysis  models with sparse data, such as rare adverse events.
 
He has collaborated particularly with Cochrane, in which he has the current following editorial roles: Editor of the Cochrane Eyes and Vision (2006); Co-coordinating Editor of the  Diagnostic Test Accuracy Satellite Cochrane Eyes and Vision (2011); Editor of the Cochrane Diagnostic Test Accuracy Working Group (2011).
He is an Editorial Board member of the journal Internal and Emergency Medicine (HTA and Clinical Evidence section, 2010), an Academic Editor of the journal PLOS ONE (2015) and an Executive Editor of the American Journal of Ophthalmology (2016).
•    Author of 405 publications in Index Medicus on PubMed (ORCID: 0000-0002-9960-2989).
•    Scopus H-index: 50; ID: 7006732630, with 309 titles and 7357 citations.
•    Google Scholar H index: 56, citations 11118   .
His main areas of clinical interest include primary research on the diagnosis and treatment of medical retina disorders, visual function and low vision rehabilitation.  Gianni is an expert in conducting systematic reviews of interventions and diagnostic test accuracy studies in eyes and vision as well as in other medical specialties. This methodological skill has enable him to provide editorial, methodological, and statistical support in other research fields, including neurology, immunology, allergology, radiology, laboratory medicine, anesthesiology and orthopedics. He has also published epidemiological reports and studies using registry-based and administrative electronic data, particularly working with EUROCARE and RARECARE cancer registries network and the Regional Health Agency in Tuscany.
 
He is involved in an international collaborative project with the US Satellite of Cochrane Eyes and Vision (Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), with the aim of  supporting Associate Editors in ophthalmology and optometry journals that are dedicated to improving the quality of published evidence synthesis  (grant from the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health).
He has been a member of the Technical Working Group for the WHO Package of Refractive Error Interventions and the WHO Package of Rehabilitation Interventions for Vision rehabilitation.

Dr. Fernández is a member of the elected Council of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), where he serves as the ESCRS Secretary as a member of the Executive and a member of both the Leadership and Innovation Committee and the Functional Vision Working Group. He holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD), a Master of Science (MSc) in Evidence-Based Healthcare from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Applied Physics to Sciences and Technologies from the University of Alicante. Specializing in Ophthalmology, particularly in Anterior Segment Surgery, his expertise includes Refractive Surgery, Presbyopia, Keratoconus, and Cataract surgery. Currently, he serves as the CEO of Qvision and the Medical Director of Ophthalmology at Vithas Almería Hospital. He is also actively involved in charitable work as a Trustee of the Elena Barraquer Foundation, conducting two surgical missions per year to combat preventable blindness caused by cataracts.

He has published over 80 research studies in international journals and has contributed to various books in his field. Globally recognized for his work on Multifocal Intraocular Lenses, Dr. Fernández contributes to the development of global standards for measuring and reporting outcomes in IOL studies, as well as to the Functional Classification of IOLs, in collaboration with the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the ESCRS. As an experienced anterior segment surgeon, he has performed live surgeries and presentations at national and international ophthalmology conferences. He is the founder of the Research and Evidence Department at Qvision, where his research focuses on visual performance and optical quality with Multifocal Intraocular Lenses, systems for subjective and objective evaluation of visual performance, corneal biomechanics, IOL power calculation, astigmatism management, SMILE, ICL, as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Jorge L. Alio del Barrio

MD, PhD, FEBOS-CR, FWCRS

-Medical Director, Vissum (Miranza Group), Alicante, Spain.

-Associate Professor in Ophthalmology. Universidad Miguel Hernández, Alicante, Spain

 Jorge L. Alió del Barrio graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Specialized in Ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Ramón y Cajal (Madrid, 2009-2013), and he subspecialized in the area of ​​Cornea, Cataract, Ocular Surface and Refractive Surgery after completing Fellowships at Guy`s and St Thomas' Hospital (2013-2014, London, UK) and Moorfields Eye Hospital (2014-2015, London, UK).

PhD by the University of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), he is currently working as a cornea, cataract, ocular surface and refractive surgery surgeon at Vissum (Miranza Group) in Alicante, Spain. He is also Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology in the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Miguel Hernández in Alicante.

More than 200 publications in prestigious peer reviewed journals (n=131) and international scientific books (n=75) support his research and scientific background (h-index of 31). Graduated as "Fellow of the European Board of Ophthalmology-Specialist Diploma in Cataract and Refractive Surgery (FEBOS-CR)" from September 2018 and later awarded (2022) by the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology with the “Premio Arruga” to the best CV of a Spanish ophthalmologists under 40 years of age. Declared as “Top reviewer” by the Journal of Refractive Surgery in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and finally declared as “Fellow of the World College of Refractive Surgeons & Visual Sciences” (FWCRS) from June 2023. In 2025 he was included in the annual “Power List” published by the journal “The Ophthalmologist” that includes the most influential ophthalmologists worldwide, within the category “Rising Stars”. Finally, in 2026 he became Professor of Ophthalmology, recognized by the Spanish ministry of health.

Mor Dickman is an acknowledged anterior segment specialist with expertise in corneal transplantation and complex lens pathologies. His clinical research focuses on improving patient outcomes after corneal transplantation, cataract, and refractive surgery. He specialises in population-based registry studies and multicenter randomised controlled trials. His fundamental and translational research is in regenerative medicine with a focus on cell therapies to regenerate the cornea. As Chair of the ESCRS BROSS Working Group, he is committed to promoting inclusion and equity and fostering an environment where everyone feels valued and can realise their full potential. 

Prof. Paolo Vinciguerra obtained his Medical Degree at the University of Milan in March 1982 and then his Ophthalmology Degree (1982-1986). Associate Professor of Ophthalmology (2016-2019), Full Professor (2020) , Director of Residency Program in Ophthalmology  at Humanitas University-Rozzano (Milan) and Director of Eye Center –Istituto Clinico Humanitas since November 1999. He is Coordinator of Eye An Neck Department – Humanitas University. He has been Appointed Professor at the Milan University, at the Chieti University and Visiting Professor at the Ohio State University. Pioneer of numerous ophthalmic surgery procedures, since 1989 Prof. Vinciguerra, M.D., Ph.D, has contributed to countless Italian and international research studying refractive surgery and corneal topography. ESCRS Council Member for Italy, he was Italian Past President of the Italian Cataract and Refractive Surgery Society (AICCER), Past-President  of the Italian Association of Private Hospitals (OPI) , member Board of Italian Society of Cornea, Stem Cells and Ocular Surface ( SICSSO ) He has been an Honorary Member of the Italian Ophthalmology Society (since 1995) and an Honorary Member of the Italian Society for Corneal Transplants (SITRAC) since 2004. He has been a member of the International Council of the International Society of Refractive Surgery-American Academy (ISRS-AAO) since 2004-2008. As a pioneer of refractive surgery working with scientific institutes and ophthalmology companies engaged in development and research into technological innovations, Prof. Vinciguerra, M.D., has filed numerous patents in both Europe and the rest of the world.

Dr. Lapid is a Cataract, Cornea, and Refractive Surgeon at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers in Amsterdam (University of Amsterdam) as well as in private practice.  Dr. Lapid serves as the treasurer of the Board of the International Intraocular Implant Club. She is a member of the Board of the Netherlands’ Intra Ocular Implant Club since 2013.

Ruth Lapid is an expert in multifocal IOL implantation, complicated cataract surgery and cornea surgery, anterior segment reconstruction, and refractive surgery. She is active in academic research in cataract and refractive surgery outcome studies, and straylight studies in refractive surgery, exploring the use of multifocal IOLs in postlaser eyes, and experimental cornea surgery, such as the first in human study with the EndoArt artificial corneal endothelium, and principal investigator for the coming study of the CorNeat artificial cornea. In addition, Ruth Lapid acts as an ophthalmic device development expert with the ophthalmic device industries and start-ups. Ruth Lapid is a member of the academic staff and teaches medical students, residents, fellows, and PhD students at the department of Ophthalmology at the Amsterdam UMC in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Professor Walter Sekundo, MD, PhD is Medical Director and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology, Philipps University of Marburg and University Eye Clinic Germany. He is a comprehensive ophthalmic surgeon with special interest in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery. He studied Medicine in Frankfurt/Germany, New Orleans and Durham/USA. He received the postgraduate training at the Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn/Germany. He also accomplished fellowships in Eye Pathology at Tennents Institute of Ophthalmology (Glasgow/UK), Corneal & Refractive Surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital (London/UK), was trained in vitreoretinal surgery at the University of Marburg and in glaucoma surgery in Mainz (Germany). He is one of the inventors of Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) and received several prestigious awards for this and other microsurgical developments. Prof. Sekundo is member of several national and international associations and a reviewer for many professional journals, among them JCRS and JRS. He is an Editorial Board Member of “Die Ophthalmologie” and “Eye Discovery”. As of April 2026, he published 210 original papers, 45 book chapters and edited a textbook on SMILE (Springer 2015) and a textbook book on KLEx (Springer 2025). Despite all these commitments he remains a busy clinician with over 40,000 anterior and posterior segment procedures performed up to date. For this reason, since 2010 the independent “Focus Magazine” has regularly ranked him as one of the 30 top cataract, corneal and refractive surgeons in Germany.

Eszter Szalai, MD, PhD, is a distinguished ophthalmologist and researcher with expertise in the pathophysiology and diagnosis of corneal and ocular surface disorders. She specializes in advanced anterior segment imaging, including biometry and intraocular lens planning, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of ocular surface malignancies.

Dr. Szalai graduated from the University of Debrecen, Faculty of Medicine, and earned her PhD with a thesis on advancements in anterior segment imaging. Her career spans roles at the Departments of Ophthalmology at the Universities of Debrecen and Pecs, where she currently holds an associate professor position.
She has trained internationally, including an AUPO-FCC fellowship in ocular oncology and pathology at Emory Eye Center, and furthered her expertise in corneal and anterior segment surgery through specialized programs in Germany and the Netherlands.

Dr. Szalai’s contributions to research are substantial, with over 60 peer-reviewed publications, 1,600 citations, and an h-index of 23. Her work includes pioneering imaging techniques and molecular pathology studies. A member of various professional societies, she serves on the ESCRS Research and Young Ophthalmologist Committees. Dr. Szalai is also an active reviewer for prominent journals and supervises multiple PhD candidates, advancing the field of ophthalmology globally.

I studied Medicine and did my Ophthalmology Residency Program in Málaga (Spain), where I continue to practice as a Corneal Surgeon and Consultant in the reference Hospital and in a private clinic (Vithas). I performed a corneal fellowship at the prestigious clinic of Dr. Melles in Rotterdam in 2012-2013 (Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery, NIIOS, https://www.niios.com/), where I later worked as a consultant. 

As a surgeon specialized in endothelial keratoplasty, I am closely linked to the Transplant Commission. I have visited some of the main Eye Banks in Europe, the one in Veneto (FBOV, https://www.fbov.org/) and Rotterdam (Amnitrans, https://www.niios.com/amnitrans-eyebank-rotterdam/) in order to create the Andalusian Eye Bank, inaugurated in 2016. 

I have always been interested in research and quality teaching with an international vocation. I did my European Doctoral Thesis (Doctor Europeus) about blood-derived sera in dry eye, obtaining Cum Laude. I have to date 70 publications in impact journals (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=rodriguez+calvo+de+mora) and many more ongoing papers, as well than more than 40 book chapters. I have performed many presentations, instructional courses and wetlabs both in international and national congresses. I have received awards for my presentations at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology, and the Andalusian Society of Ophthalmology (in five consecutive years). I have been the principal investigator in four clinical trials and designed and collaborated in another ten.

I am an Editor of the American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports and reviewer of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, Eye and Vision, Archives of the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology and Journal Français d'Ophtalmologie. I have been the PhD director of three doctoral thesis and have some more coming through.

Title: Visiting Professor of Management, Bayes Business School, City, London University.

Education:  B.Sc. (London), A.R.C.S.; M.Sc. (London), DBA (Harvard)