AlzEye
AlzEye is an unprecedented data linkage project, connecting retinal images with hospital data across England to accelerate Oculomics research - using the eye as a window to systemic health.
What is AlzEye?
The first health data project of its kind, AlzEye links more than 6 million retinal images from over 350,000 people attending Moorfields Eye Hospital (2008 - 2018) with nationally held data (NHS Digital) on people who develop Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
​Led by Siegfried Wagner and Pearse Keane, AlzEye provides a unique opportunity to explore patterns of retinal change associated with dementia development across a diverse population of varying ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
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​In 2025, an update to AlzEye was agreed with NHS England, updating the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data to 2024 and including cause of death certificates.
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​Creation of the AlzEye dataset is made possible through INSIGHT's data pipeline, infrastructure and expertise.
AlzEye research projects
AlzEye has ethical approval for neurodegeneration and dementia studies, providing exceptional opportunities for research into systemic diseases using images of the eye.
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The AlzEye data project has enabled several breakthrough studies so far, including:
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Detecting Parkinson's Disease up to seven years before symptoms emerge.
World-first AI foundation model identifies sight-threatening eye diseases but also predicts risk of systemic disease including heart attacks and stroke.
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Association between retinal features from multimodal imaging and schizophrenia.
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