Miss Melanie Corbett

Background

Miss Melanie Corbett is a consultant at the Western Eye Hospital. She specialises in corneal, ocular surface and anterior segment surgery, which includes surgery for complex cataract and corneal transplantation. She is also responsible for emergency cases including injuries and severe infections. She provides expertise in medical contact lens fitting for many corneal conditions including keratoconus. 

Miss Corbett qualified from the Royal London Hospital in 1987 and undertook her ophthalmic training at Oxford, St Thomas’s, Kings College and Moorfields Eye hospitals. This included subspecialty fellowship training in cornea and complex cataract. She took up her consultant post in 1999. Miss Corbett has always been very interested in research and new developments, and has published over 60 scientific articles. She received a University of London Award to spend three years in a dedicated research post studying wound healing in the cornea, resulting in an MD degree. Her book ‘Corneal Topography – principles and applications’ addresses the measurement of corneal shape. 

Miss Corbett also has major roles in training and education, both locally and nationally. She has particular interests in surgical training and trainee development within her own unit. As a training programme director she had responsibility for the delivery and quality assurance of training within the London deanery. Previously she was president of the Medical Contact Lens and Ocular Surface Association (MCLOSA) and hosted the European Medical Contact Lens Conference. For the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) she has led the Training the Trainers Programme nationally and overseas for nearly 10 years. She has been a member of the Executive Committee and the Trustee Board, and now chairs the Education Committee.

Expertise

Anterior segment, external eye disease, cateracts

Research & publications

Clinical research interests include cataract and corneal surgery, corneal wound healing and the measurement of corneal shape (topography). Research on education and training includes enhancing the training environment, trainer behaviours, the value of assessment techniques and the roll out of the Training the Trainers Programme across Africa.