Rate My Professor Harminder Dua

Professor Harminder Singh Dua is the Chair and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Nottingham, a position he has held since 1994. He heads the Division of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and serves as Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Prior to this, he was an associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, USA. Dua earned his MBBS from Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur, India, and holds additional qualifications including DO, DO (London), MS, FRCS, FRCOphth, MD, and PhD.

Dua's academic interests center on corneal and ocular surface diseases, with groundbreaking research in anatomy, transplantation, and reconstruction. He discovered Dua's layer, a previously unidentified pre-Descemet's layer in the cornea, detailed in a 2013 Ophthalmology publication, transforming procedures like deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty and inspiring pre-Descemet's endothelial keratoplasty (PDEK), which he pioneered along with the PDEK clamp. Further innovations include Dua's classification of chemical burns (2001), alcohol delamination for recurrent corneal erosions (2006), fine needle diathermy for corneal vessels (2000), limbal epithelial crypts as stem cell niches, amniotic membrane applications, and antimicrobial peptides at the ocular surface. His work on corneal nerves and dry eye disease amplifies his field impact. Author of over 400 publications, Dua has supervised 50 postgraduates and leads teaching via Royal College of Ophthalmologists courses, EuCornea, EVER, and ESASO, where he received an Excellence Award. Major honors encompass the CBE (2019) for ophthalmology services, Times Higher Education Research Project of the Year (2014), and Lifetime Achievement Award (2022). He is former President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and Editor-in-Chief of Eye.