Speaker Biography

Noemi is Professor of Ophthalmology at Queens University and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.

After having obtained her medical degree, she did her Residency in Ophthalmology and PhD degree in Spain and completed fellowships in 1) Ocular Oncology at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, with Drs Jerry and Carol Shields, 2) Medical Retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, with Profs Alan Bird, and 3) Vitreoretinal Surgery at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, with Prof David Wong. She then worked as full time Consultant Ophthalmologist and Vitreoretinal Surgeon in Aberdeen, Scotland, until joining Queens University, Belfast, in 2013 where she has been leading a programme of preclinical and clinical research focused on complications of diabetic retinopathy and vitreoretinal surgery. This programme of research extends from pathogenic mechanisms of disease and risk stratification to early trials on new therapies and large, multicentre, pragmatic trials designed to inform clinical practice.

Noemi has published over 18).0 articles in peer review journals (Scopus h-index 49), 13 book chapters, and is editor of 3 textbooks, one of these, on Complications of Vitreoretinal Surgery. Noemi has given numerous lectures as guest speaker at national and international meetings taking place in Africa, Canada, China, Denmark, Gaza, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, USA and the UK.

Noemi was awarded the King James IV Professorship by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2024. She delivered the Meyer-Schwickerath Lecture at the 36^th International Congress of German Ophthalmic Surgeons (DOC) in Nuremberg in 2024, and the Mila Oh’s Memorial Lecture at the 2025 annual meeting of the Canadian Retina Society. She will deliver the Gisbert Richard Lecture at the 26th EURETINA Congress in Vienna, Austria, 2026.

Noemi is editorial board member of Cochrane Eyes and Vision Group and was part of the UK National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) panels evaluating and approving new therapies for retinal diseases. 

Noemi has been Chief Investigator of several publicly funded (non-commercial) multi-centre clinical trials, including FILMS, on surgical techniques for macular hole (funded by the Chief Scientist Office, Scotland – Lois N et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:1586-1592), DIAMONDS, on laser surgery for diabetic macular oedema (funded by the Health Technology Assessment of the National Institute for Health and Care Research [HTA-NIHR]: Lois N et al. Ophthalmology. 2023;130:14-27; Lois N et al. Health Technol Assess. 2022 Dec;26(50):1-86) and EMERALD, on multimodal imaging and new pathways of care for people with complications of diabetic retinopathy (funded by the NIHR HTA: Lois N et al. Ophthalmology. 2021;128:561-573; Lois N et al. Health Technol Assess. 2021 May;25(32):1-104). Noemi is co-lead of RECOGNISED, a multicentric consortium investigating diabetes, cognitive impairment and dementia, funded by the EU Horizon 2020, and of TIGER, a pan-European multicentric clinical trial evaluating vitreoretinal surgery for people with age-related macular degeneration and submacular haemorrhage, funded by EURETINA-Fight for Sight. Noemi has recently received HTA-NIHR-support to conduct two large UK-wide randomized clinical trials, currently ongoing: COMBAT, which will determine clinical and cost-effectiveness, safety and patient experience and acceptability of phacovitrectomy, compared with vitrectomy and subsequent cataract surgery (if/when needed), for non-highly myopic phakic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, and to set basis for its implementation; and DAME, which will compare clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, patient experience and acceptability of anti-VEGF therapies versus combined anti-VEGF therapy and subthreshold micropulse laser (SML) for people with severe diabetic macular oedema, with SML applied once central retinal thickness goes below 400 microns following anti-VEGFs. Noemi has received research funds from NIHR-HTA, MRC, EU Horizon 2020, Wellcome Trust, EURETINA-Fight for Sight and other charities for a total of over £19m.

Noemi is married to Prof Augusto Azuara-Blanco, internationally recognised for his outstanding contributions to the field of glaucoma. They have two children, Emilia and Yago. Noemi is a keen oil painter; she had her first exhibition at Art Source, Dublin in 2025, with a return exhibition planned for 2026. She is currently exhibiting at The Hallows Gallery, Belfast (view her work at https://www.the-galician-artist.com/ and on Instagram: @thegalicianartist).