New initiative to transform UK eye health research by linking national data resources
- INSIGHT communications team
- 39 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The UK will benefit from a new initiative to scale the INSIGHT Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health and Oculomics – the world’s largest collection of curated eye imaging and linked clinical data – at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
With investment funding of £3.7 million awarded by UKRI Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), INSIGHT will expand from Moorfields Eye Hospital and create a blueprint for linking NHS sites across the country, supporting research, improving patient care, and fostering innovation in eye health.
As part of the four-year programme of work delivered through Moorfields Eye Hospital’s strategic partnership with University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology, INSIGHT will on-board NHS sites including Sunderland Eye Infirmary, one of the UK’s largest regional centres for ophthalmology, working in collaboration with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust and North East North Cumbria Secure Data Environment.
INSIGHT will also broaden national data linkages and integrate genetic data from the NIHR BioResource and UK Biobank to accelerate Oculomics research — using biomarkers in the eye to detect systemic conditions such as dementia and cardiovascular disease.
Patient and public representatives will play a central role, working with project leads to embed standards for data access and governance, address risks of bias in artificial intelligence, and ensure equitable benefits for underserved communities.
The enhanced INSIGHT research data platform will grow from over 30 million images — currently more ophthalmic data than the top three centres in the US combined — to some 50 million images, consolidating the UK as the global leader in ophthalmology and Oculomics research and innovation.
INSIGHT Director Pearse Keane, said:
“This funding allows us to expand INSIGHT from Moorfields Eye Hospital into a truly national resource, with significant benefits for clinical research and public health. Ophthalmology is the busiest NHS speciality, increasingly under pressure as patient need grows. By providing a comprehensive, interoperable research resource for ophthalmic data, we can help to accelerate research discoveries, bring new treatments to patients faster, and ultimately reduce the burden of sight-threatening disease in the UK and globally.”
Moorfields Eye Hospital CEO Peter Ridley, said:
“The potential of NHS data to improve patient outcomes and tackle health inequalities is immense. We are proud that the INSIGHT Hub has led the way in harnessing routinely collected NHS eye imaging data for medical research, demonstrating how patient data can be optimised for research in a safe and secure way, involving patients and members of the public in decision-making. With this grant funding, we anticipate entering an exciting new phase in the Hub’s development, supporting the UK’s ambitions as a global leader in healthcare technology.”
The award is one of five announced by UKRI MRC and the NIHR to enhance biomedical and health-related data and digital platform resources in the UK, following a UKRI call published last year.
About INSIGHT – The Health Data Research Hub for Eye Health and Oculomics
INSIGHT is the world's largest ophthalmic imaging bioresource, with over 30 million eye images linked to clinical data. An NHS initiative founded in 2019 and led by Moorfields Eye Hospital, INSIGHT makes routinely collected patient eye data available for approved research that could lead to improvements in diagnosis, care and treatment of eye diseases, as well as systemic disease such as stroke and Alzheimer’s. INSIGHT’s mission is to improve healthcare for the benefit of patients, the NHS and wider society by enabling safe and trusted research access to anonymised data for research and innovation. For more information, please visit https://www.insight.hdrhub.org/
About Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the leading providers of eye health services in the UK and a world class centre of excellence for ophthalmic research and education. Our main focus is the treatment and care of NHS patients with a wide range of eye problems, from common complaints to rare conditions that require treatment not available elsewhere in the UK. Our unique patient case mix and the number of people we treat mean that our clinicians have expertise in discrete ophthalmic sub-specialties.
We treat people in 20 locations in and around London, the south east and Bedford, enabling us to provide expert treatment closer to patients’ homes. We also operate commercial divisions that provide care to private patients in both London and the Middle East.
Through its strategic partnership with UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, Moorfields is recognised as a leading centre of excellence in eye and vision research. Together we form one of the largest ophthalmic research sites in the world, with the largest patient population in Europe or the USA. We publish more scientific papers than any other eye and vision research site and have an extensive joint research portfolio.
About UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (IoO) is one of several specialised research centres within UCL (University College London) and is, together with Moorfields Eye Hospital, one of the leading centres for eye research worldwide. The combination of the institute’s research with the resources of Moorfields Eye Hospital opens the way for advances at the forefront of vision research. Close collaboration with other academic partners and with industry extends its impact. Part of the Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology has been ranked the best place in the UK and Europe to study ophthalmology (SCImago Institution Rankings 2025 for Ophthalmology). For further information please visit https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/ioo
About the UKRI Funding Call