Our Trustees - saving sight
Mr Cornelius René, Chairman and Addenbrooke's Ophthalmology Consultant
Mr Cornelius René is a Consultant Ophthalmologist specializing in oculoplastic surgery (eyelids), lacrimal surgery (tear ducts), and orbital surgery (eye sockets). He qualified at Middlesex Hospital Medical School in London in 1985 and completed junior ophthalmology training posts in London and the South East, before moving to Birmingham for a period of research, followed by Ophthalmology Higher Surgical Training in Birmingham and the West Midlands region. He completed subspecialty fellowship training at Queen’s Medical Centre (Nottingham) and Moorfields Eye Hospital (London), before taking up his consultant post in Cambridge in 1998. Mr René is a founder member, former Treasurer and Past President of the British Oculoplastic Surgery Society (BOPSS).
Mr Douglas Newman, Trustee and Addenbrooke's Ophthalmology Consultant
Consultant ophthalmologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. My clinical practice comprises general ophthalmology with sub-specialty interests in cataract surgery, vitreoretinal surgery (including retinal detachment, vitreous haemorrhage and macular disorders), and medical retina disorders (including macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy). I provide consultation facilities for private patients at Spire Cambridge Lea Hospital.
I qualified from the University of Oxford Medical School. My specialist training in ophthalmology was undertaken at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Moorfields Eye Hospital and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. I have extensive experience in all aspects of ophthalmology. My advanced sub-specialty training included a clinical fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery and a clinical fellowship in medical retina disorders.
Mr Nicholas Sarkies, Trustee and retired Addenbrooke's Consultant
Nicholas Sarkies, although now retired is still lecturing at Cambridge University and at Addenbrooke's. He was a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge from 1988 to 2020. After Cambridge he trained at Westminster, The London, The Middlesex, Moorfields, St Thomas' and The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. He has specialized in neuro-ophthalmology and glaucoma. His research interests within neuro-ophthalmology has been in cerebrospinal fluid and pituitary disorders.
He has been interested in training and education in ophthalmology for all of his career. He was Royal College of Ophthalmology Clinical Tutor at Addenbrooke's in the 1990s and he established the School of Ophthalmology for Health Education, East of England , being Head of School from 2008 to 2015.
Dr David Wong, Trustee and Ophthalmology Specialty Registrar
Dr David Wong studied Medicine at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, where he also completed his PhD in Cell Biology at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, supervised by Dr John O’Neill. He is now an Ophthalmology Registrar and postdoctoral Clinical Research Associate investigating the clinical variability of inherited optic neuropathies in Professor Patrick Yu Wai Man’s research group. This work is supported by the BMA Foundation’s Dawkin and Strutt grant and the NIHR Bioresource.
As the Trainee Representative of the Cambridge Eye Trust, he is committed to enhancing the quality of teaching and research in the region through engagement with fellow resident doctors and research groups.
New Trustees from December 2025
Erika Damato - Addenbrooke's Consultant
Brinda Muthusamy - Addenbrooke's Consultant
Michael Proctor (MP) - Lay Trustee
John Sharp - Addenbrooke's Consultant
Liam Sullivan - Addenbrooke's Consultant
Associated Trust administrators
Mr Robin Bligh - Trust Accountant
Robin Bligh, who advises the trustees on financial matters, is a retired Chartered Accountant, an FCA. He worked in both the City of London and in Cambridge, where he was a Partner in a large firm of Accountants.