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Dr Samantha De Silva

Visiting Fellow

Consultant Opthamologist, Oxford Eye Hospital

Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences

BA, MA (Cambridge), BMBCh, DPhil (Oxford), MRCP (Royal College of Physicians of London), MRCOphth, FRCOphth (Royal College of Opthamologists)

Dr Samantha de Silva is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon and clinician-scientist specialising in medical retina disorders, inherited retinal disease and cataract surgery. After earning degrees from the Universities of Cambridge (pre-clinical) and Oxford (clinical), she completed her specialist ophthalmology training within the Oxford deanery and was awarded the Harcourt medal by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Her advanced training includes two sub-specialist fellowships in medical retina, completed at the Oxford Eye Hospital and the prestigious Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. She was also awarded a Wellcome Trust clinical research training fellowship to complete her doctorate (DPhil) at the University of Oxford, where she researched optogenetic strategies aimed at restoring vision in individuals with end-stage inherited retinal degenerations, which earned her several awards and a first-author publication in the journal PNAS.

Based at the Oxford Eye Hospital and the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Dr de Silva leads research translating clinical data into therapeutic insights. Her work leverages large-scale biomedical databases, such as the UK Biobank, and clinical datasets to explore genotype-phenotype correlations in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited retinal diseases, as well as to optimise treatment responses in other retinal disorders. She supervises DPhil, DM, and undergraduate students in these fields, and is also the principal investigator for several commercial and investigator-led clinical trials, including leading one of the two UK sites within the international research collaboration on macular telangiectasia type 2. She serves as the treasurer of the renowned Oxford Ophthalmological Congress and sits on the executive committee of Women in Vision UK—an organisation dedicated to advancing the careers of women working within ophthalmology and the visual sciences—and Women in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Oxford.