Dr Sohaib Rufai awarded European Award in Medicine for Ophthalmology

Dr Sohaib Rufai has been awarded the 2022 European Award in Medicine for Ophthalmology. He led the world’s first study using handheld OCT to predict future vision in infantile nystagmus.

Dr Rufai is an Honorary Lecturer and Academic Specialist Registrar in Ophthalmology. He recently completed his NIHR Doctoral Fellowship at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and the University of Leicester, UK. He is also Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and Honorary Fellow at Oxford University Hospitals. His main research interest is the application of advanced ocular imaging to improve clinical outcomes in patients with rare diseases, including nystagmus and craniosynostosis. He has over 70 peer reviewed publications and prizes.

His national and international prizes include the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Ulverscroft David Owen Prize, The UK Neuro-Ophthalmology Society Ivor Levy Prize, the Vernon Prize Trophy for Ophthalmological Research, best presentation at ARVO, RCOphth Congress, BIPOSA, BAAPS, Midlands Ophthalmological Society and Scottish Ophthalmological Club, the Bayer ROSES Audit Award and others.

He is the lead investigator for the RIO Study (Recognition of Intracranial Hypertension in Children using Handheld OCT), for which he was recently awarded an NIHR Doctoral Fellowship grant of £426,000.

He was the lead investigator in the world’s first study using handheld OCT to predict future vision in infantile nystagmus, published in Ophthalmology (2020), the highest impact clinical journal in the field. He completed this work at Leicester Royal Infirmary, as the top-ranked candidate for the most competitive NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in Ophthalmology in 2016-2019.

Dr Rufai is the author of two books: A Practical Guide for Aspiring Ophthalmologists (World Scientific, 2021), an Amazon ophthalmology bestseller in May 2021, and MCQs for FRCOphth Part 1 (Oxford University Press, in production).

Dr Rufai qualified in 2014 with BMBS and BMedSc (Hons) from the University of Southampton. He subsequently completed NIHR Academic Foundation and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship posts – during the latter he obtained MRes with distinction in 2019. Dr Rufai’s work has been covered in the national media including major newspapers, ITV News, Daybreak, BBC Radio 1, BBC Newsbeat, and others. He has been invited to present his work internationally in 18 cities.

In his spare time, Dr Rufai enjoys reading, travelling, and spending quality time with his wife, baby son, family and friends.

Dr Rufai said the following on receiving the award:

“I am so honoured and grateful to receive the 2022 European Award in Medicine for Ophthalmology. I would like to thank the European Awards team for inviting me and my wife to the beautiful ceremony at the Ritz Paris. It was such a magical night. We were warmly welcomed, the food was delicious, the opera was amazing and the ceremony itself was a wonderful celebration of hardworking medical professionals across Europe.

I would like to thank my fantastic colleagues and mentors who have supported me to deliver high impact research and educational projects in ophthalmology. A huge thank you to thank all the wonderful children and families who have supported our research across Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Leicester and Oxford, funded by the NIHR.

I dedicate this award to my family, for their endless love, support, and guidance. My wonderful wife, Tania, our beautiful baby son, Adam, my amazing parents, Shamim and Riyaz, my siblings, in laws, wider family and friends. It was wonderful to meet and learn from healthcare professionals from across Europe. Together, we can give a better, brighter future to all our patients.”