Meet Mr Romesh Angunawela

About Romesh Angunawela

Mr Romesh Angunawela is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon specialising in cataract and laser eye surgery, lens replacement and corneal transplantation at Moorfields Eye Hospital where he is also Director of corneal training. He is a Director and Co-Founder of OCL Vision.

Mr Angunawela initially specialised in neurosurgery before choosing to exclusively specialise in ophthalmic surgery. He completed his clinical training at St Thomas’ Hospital and Moorfields Eye Hospital following which he completed two and a half years of specialist fellowship training in cornea and lens surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Singapore National Eye Centre.

He holds the Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (Cert LRS), Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He has won numberous international awards including the National Patient Safety Award.

When it comes to patient care, he aims for best potential vision correction during surgery and has extensive experience in the use of premium lens implants and laser eye surgery to achieve this. He has a reputation for kind, patient centred care.

In 2023, he was nominated as an inaugural board-certified fellows of the World College of Refractive Surgery and Visual Science (FWCRS). He is an alumnus of the Chicago Northwestern Kellogg School of Management and completed the Physician CEO Programme in 2023.

Dr Romesh Angunawela looking to the camera

Romesh Angunawela specialities

Laser Eye Surgery

Laser Eye Surgery: LASIK

Laser Eye Surgery: LASEK

Refractive Lens Exchange

Cataract Surgery

Phakic IOL’s

Corneal Transplantation

Keratoconus Management

Advanced Surface Ablation

Reading Vision Correction

An award-winning eye surgeon

Romesh Angunawela has appeared in national top 10 surgeon lists for cataract surgery and laser eye surgery in the UK. He has won a multitude of national and international awards and is considered an expert in the fields of cataract and lens surgery, laser eye surgery and corneal transplant surgery. These include the following:

2018 National Patient Safety Award – shortlisted
2017 National Patient Safety Award – overall prize
2016 Best Paper – Refractive Surgery, UKISCRS
2015, 2016, 2017 Commendation for teaching – St George’s Medical School
2012 Best Paper, American Academy of Ophthalmologists
2012 Founders Gold Medal, UKISCRS
2012 Best Paper. Eucornea, Milan
2011 Video Prize. ESCRS
2011 Achievement Award. American Academy of Ophthalmologists
2011 Best paper Zeiss Laser User Group meeting.
2011 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Santen Award
2010 Pfizer Ophthalmic Fellowship Award
2009 Fight for Sight Travel Award Finalist

2008 American Academy of Ophthalmology, ’Best of Show’ Award
2008 Allergan Research Fellowship Award. Winner
2008 Finalist Alcon Glaucoma Case Prize
2007 Founders Gold Medal. UKISCRS
2007 Cataract Surgery Category Prize. ESCRS
2007 Allergan Research Fellowship Award. Runner up
2007 Best video prize. ASCRS San Diego, USA.
2005 Bausch and Lomb Prize.UKISCRS
2004 Founders Gold Medal. UKISCRS
2004 British Eye Research Foundation Fellowship grant
2003 Sir William Lister/Dorey Bequest Prize
2003 St Thomas Hospital Teaching Fund Award
1997 Altounyan Research Prize

Research highlights

Romesh was awarded a higher doctorate (MD) for research into healing after laser eye surgery His research into eye surgery continues, including the following:

Laser Eye Surgery

Awarded best paper by the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS) or research into corneal wound healing after laser eye surgery. Best paper in refractive surgery by UKISCRS for comparison of wound healing after LASEK laser surgery and epi-LASIK. He has also published multiple research papers on the early development of the SMILE laser eye surgery technique.

Cataract Surgery

Awarded best paper by the United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS), the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) for his description of the fish tail technique for complex cataract surgery.

Corneal Transplant Surgery

Awarded best paper by the UKISCRS and American Academy of Ophthalmologists for his research on optimising outcomes of endothelial transplant surgery for Fuchs’ Dystrophy. Mr Angunawela is one of the handful of surgeons in the UK that perform DMEK surgery for Fuchs’ dystrophy

Keratoconus

Awarded best paper in refractive surgery by UKISCRS for research paper into corneal collagen crosslinking efficacy with contact lens masking. Mr Angunawela is also one of the first surgeons to perform Avedro Curv topography guided crosslinking.

Patient safety

Mr Angunawela’s team at Moorfields Private Eye Hospital were awarded the prestigious National Patient Safety Award in 2017 for their work in identifying complications arising from a common combination of medications used after cataract surgery. This triggered a national alert and prevention of harm action. A research paper arising from this work is in publication. The group were shortlisted for the same award in 2018 for their work in managing infection after corneal transplant.

Teaching

As a lecturer to medical students at St George’s, University of London, Romesh has received commendations for his teaching. He is also faculty on the University College of London’s MSc program in ophthalmology. He teaches regularly on courses as part of the European Society of Cataract Surgeons, including highly rated courses on cataract surgery, DSAEK surgery for Fuchs’ dystrophy and complex lens exchange in cataract surgery. He is responsible as Director for the internationally renowned corneal fellowship program at Moorfields Eye Hospital and trains junior eye surgeons each year.

Charity

Romesh has travelled to the Nubra Valley to treat people as part of the Himalayan Vision Project, which aims to bring modern health care to these remote communities as part of the Himalayan Health Project. He continues to support the charity.