The Skull Base Neuro Orbital Masterclass Series
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James Acheson
James Acheson MRCP FRCOphth has held the post of joint consultant neuro-ophthalmologist to Moorfields Eye Hospital, and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, since 1999. James works in adult and paediatric neuro-ophthalmology and strabismus clinics and in the last 5 years he has edited, written and lectured on a range of optic nerve and ocular motility topics for neurology, ophthalmology and optometry audiences.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurology
Saj Ataullah
Ataullah FRCOphth was appointed consultant oculoplastic surgeon at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in 2002. He is clinical lead for oculoplastic surgery, director of the Manchester oculoplastic dissection course, and co-runs the renowned fellowship in oculoplastic surgery at MREH.
His work for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists includes College Tutor (2005-12) and Regional Adviser (2012-18). Finally, he is a founder member of the British Oculoplastic Surgery Society.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
Raj Bhalla
Raj Bhalla MD FRCS is a consultant rhinologist and skull base surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Salford Royal Hospital. He is responsible for the Manchester Nose and Sinus Centre, and is clinical director of the Manchester Surgical Skills Centre. He is President-Elect of the British Rhinological Society, is on the council of the British Society of Facial Plastic Surgery, and is the secretary of the Royal Society of Medicine (rhinology section). He is co-director of the endoscopic skull base service in Manchester.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Skull base Surgery
Benjamin S. Bleier
Benjamin S. Bleier MD FACS is an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Eye and Ear. He is the Director of Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery and CoDirector of the Center for Thyroid Eye Disease and Orbital Surgery, and is an R01 funded surgeon-scientist with 10 patents and over 150 peerreviewed articles. He lectures widely on endoscopic management of orbit and skull base tumors and intranasal drug delivery to the brain.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Skull base Surgery
Anouk Borg
Anouk Borg MD Res FRCS(SN) is a Royal College of Surgeons fellow in Skull base Neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford. She completed the national training program in Neurosurgery at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. During her training she also completed an MD degree by conducting a multicentre clinical trial in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. Her main interests are pituitary and skull base surgery.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurosurgery
Tasanee Braithwaite
Dr Tasanee Braithwaite, MPH MRCP FRCOphth DM, is a Consultant Ophthalmologist specialising in inflammatory eye disease and neuro-ophthalmology.
She trained at Moorfields Eye Hospital and The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and after working in these centres as a Locum Consultant, has recently been appointed to The Medical Eye Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital. Her research interests include big data analysis to explore the epidemiology of, and risk factors for, inflammatory, autoimmune, and infectious diseases involving the eyes, orbit and higher visual pathways, and development of robust patient reported outcome measures.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurology
Indran Davagnanam
Indran Davagnanam BAO BMedSci FRCR was appointed consultant Neuroradiologist at NHNN and Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2008. His clinical expertise involves specialist opinions in diagnostic imaging and performing diagnostic procedures for neurological, neuro-ophthalmological and orbital conditions. As Honorary Senior Lecturer, UCL Institute of Neurology, and with an interest in stroke and ophthalmic disorders, he has published over 80 articles, contributed to Royal College guidelines, and has been invited to lecture on specialised areas of neuroimaging nationally and internationally. He serves as council member of the Clinical Neurosciences section of the Royal Society of Medicine, a committee member, lecturer and examiner on the Advanced Neuroimaging MSc Programme at the UCL Institute of Neurology and a member of the UK Neuro-Ophthalmology Specialist Interest Group.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neuroradiology
Suzanne K Freitag
Suzanne K Freitag, MD is the Director of the Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery Service and Co-Director of the multi-disciplinary Center for Thyroid Eye Disease and Orbital Surgery at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. She is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. She has published over 120 peer reviewed articles and 4 textbooks, and is the Editor-in-Chief of Orbit, the International Journal on Orbital Disorders, Oculoplastic and Lacrimal Surgery.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
Simon Gane
Simon Gane FRCS(ORL-HNS) is a consultant Rhinologist and ENT surgeon at the Royal National Throat, Nose & Ear Hospital in London, and honorary ENT surgeon to Moorfields Eye Hospital. He trained on the North Thames rotation in London with Professor Valerie Lund, and at Great Ormond Street, St Bartholomew’s, and St Mary’s hospitals.
Simon’s research interests include human olfaction, inflammatory nasal disease and hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia. He specialises in facial, nasal sinus & anterior skull base surgery.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Skull base Surgery
Sri Gore
Digital Director
Sri Gore BSc FRCOphth is a Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist and Oculoplastic Surgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, as well as a visiting Consultant in Rome, Italy. She undertook fellowships in oculoplastic surgery, paediatric ophthalmology and craniofacial disease at Moorfields, Great Ormond Street and Chelsea and Westminster Hospitals. Her specialist interests include MIAN (microphthalmia and anophthalmia), orbital vascular malformation and craniofacial conditions. She is the SOA’s Digital Director and is also undertaking a Masters in Clinical Education, the focus of which is education delivered from digital platforms.
Orbital Surgery
Joan Grieve
Joan Grieve MD FRCS(SN) has been a Consultant Neurosurgeon at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London since 2002. She was awarded an MD in 2004 entitled ‘Novel Structural and Functional Imaging Techniques in Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations’ after 2 years’ research at Queen Square. Her clinical interests include pituitary and parasellar pathologies, neurovascular treatment for intracranial aneurysms, AV malformations and cavernous haemangiomas, as well as general neuro-oncology.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurosurgery
Iain Hutchison
Iain Hutchison BDS FRCS FFDRSCI FDSRCS was appointed Consultant Surgeon to St Bartholomew’s, The Royal London Hospital & Homerton Hospitals in 1989, and to a professorship in 2007. He founded the UK Oral Cancer Research Group, is Director of the National Facial and Oral and Oculoplastic Research Centre (NFORC), and in 2012 was elected President of the British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.
In 2019 the SOA was proud to become a research partner with NFORC.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Skull base Surgery
Kailun Jiang
Kailun Jiang MD completed her BSc in biochemistry with Honours at the University of British Columbia in 2008. Her medical degree from the University of Manitoba in 2012 was followed by a BSc in Medical Research. After a year in ophthalmic pathology under Dr. Seymour Brownstein at the University of Ottawa, she completed a 5-year ophthalmology residency in 2018 in University of British Columbia. Having recently completed an adnexal fellowship in Moorfields Eye Hospital, she now joins the SOA as academic editor.
Guest Editor, Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019
Neil Kitchen
Neil Kitchen MD FRCS(SN) FRCSEd is Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) and lead neurosurgeon for skull base surgery.
Mr Kitchen has special clinical interest in brain tumour surgery, intracranial microsurgery, trigeminal neuralgia, cavernoma and radiosurgery (Gamma Knife).
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurosurgery
Priscilla Mathewson
Priscilla Mathewson MB BChir MA(Cantab) FRCOphth graduated from Cambridge University Medical School in 2009, and obtained the FRCOphth (2016) before achieving CCT (2018) and completing an Adnexal fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital (2019). She is interested in oculoplastic surgery and is academic organiser for SOA as well as academic co-ordinator for BOPSS in the NFORC collaborative research group.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
Katherine Miszkiel
Katherine Miszkiel MRCP FRCR has been a consultant at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) since 1998, with subsequent appointment as an honorary consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2000.
Her main clinical interests include neuro-inflammatory disorders, orbital diseases and neuro-ophthalmology. She has numerous publications, many in the field of imaging in multiple sclerosis.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neuroradiology
Omar Pathmanaban
Omar Pathmanaban PhD FRCS is a consultant neurosurgeon at the Manchester Centre for Clinical Neurosciences where he co-directs the endoscopic skull base service and leads molecular and cellular skull base tumour research.
Omar is an expert in endoscopic, microsurgical and minimally invasive skull base and pituitary tumour surgery, being the lead endoscopic surgeon in the nationally commissioned NF2 and skull base proton MDTs.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Skull base Surgery
Gordon Terence Plant
Gordon Terence Plant MA MD FRCP FRCOphth trained in Neurology at the National Hospital, Queen Square and in Vision Science supported by the Wellcome Trust in Cambridge and as a Medical Research Council Travelling Fellow at the Smith Kettlewell Institute in San Francisco, where he attended clinics with Bill Hoyt. He was appointed consultant to The National, St Thomas’ and Moorfields in 1991. Whilst a full-time NHS Consultant Dr Plant has published over 300 articles with an h-index over 70. He is a passionate believer in the need for physicians specialising in eye disorders and as Training Program Director initiated the first Medical Ophthalmology rotation in London. He has retired from clinical practice in 2020 but remains active in research and teaching.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neurology
Fergus Robertson
Dr Fergus Robertson is a consultant interventional and diagnostic neuroradiologist working at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for Children in London UK. His specialist interests include management of vascular disorders of the brain, orbit and spine, neuro-oncology and non-vascular spinal disease.
He is one of two dedicated UK paediatric interventional neuroradiologists and supports several nationally commissioned highly specialised services at GOSH including the national vein of Galen malformation service, management of childhood cerebral AVM and retinoblastoma therapy.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Neuroradiology
Geoffrey Rose
Professor Geoffrey Rose, BSc MS DSc MRCP FRCS FRCOphth, was appointed consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1990, where he is now the senior Consultant. He is a recognised authority in orbital, lacrimal and ophthalmic reconstructive surgery, and Senior NIHR Research Fellow at the Institute of Ophthalmology. He is Past-President of both the British Oculo-Plastic Surgical Society, and the European Society of Oculoplastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, and is an honorary Fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
David Verity
David Verity MD MA FRCOphth was appointed consultant to Moorfields Eye Hospital in 2004. He is a surgical trainer in Europe and abroad, the current President, and past Treasurer, of the British Oculoplastic Surgery Society, and current Treasurer of the European Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. In 2009 he joined the Orbital Society, and from 2010 – 17 was Editor-in Chief of ORBIT.
In 2016 Mr Verity joined the Board of Governors of the St John Eye Hospital Group, is current Chair of Clinical Governance, and the Chair of the SOA. In 2018 he was appointed Hospitaller of the Order of St John.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
Gillian Whitfield
Gillian Whitfield PhD FRCR is a Consultant Clinical Oncologist at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.
Her area of practice is paediatric and adult neuro-oncology, including skull base, with photon therapy (including stereotactic techniques), as well as proton therapy in the UK’s first NHS high energy proton therapy centre. Gillian is a member of the neurosciences, skull base and stereotactic radiosurgery multidisciplinary teams at Salford Royal Hospital and the paediatric oncology team at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Clinical Oncology, Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019
James Young
James Young MB ChB MRCP FRCOphth is a ST6 ophthalmic trainee at Manchester Royal Foundation Trust. James graduated from Manchester Medical School in 2005. He trained in internal medicine becoming a member of the Royal College of Physicians in 2014 before joining ophthalmic specialty training. He is now developing his subspecialty interest in oculoplastics, lacrimal and orbital surgery.
Neuro-Orbital Masterclass 2019, Orbital Surgery
