Clinical expertise
Manjit Mehat is an experienced eye surgeon who specialises in cataract surgery and retinal surgery, including macular holes, epiretinal membranes and retinal detachment surgery.
He also manages patients for the medical treatment of retinal conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease and vascular disorders of the retina. Manjit provides a bespoke, patient-centred service for the management of cataract and retinal problems.
Dr Mehat has undertaken 8 years of advanced surgical training and research at the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. This included a prestigious two year fellowship in the retinal surgery department of Moorfields where he performed complex cataract and retinal surgery. His world class surgical training means that you can expect the most advanced clinical and surgical expertise available.
He has modernised inpatient retinal surgery in Edinburgh through the implementation of day-case surgery for all vitrectomy, retinal detachment surgery, macular hole surgery and epiretinal membrane surgery. This practice is supported with over 6 years of safety data from his clinical practice in Edinburgh and London.
Dr Mehat also performs ultra-small gauge (25g and 27g) vitrectomy surgery for the treatment of retinal and macular diseases including; macular hole, epiretinal membrane, vitreomacular traction, diabetic retinopathy and surgery for debilitating floaters. He has also introduced posture-free macular hole surgery to Edinburgh.
Manjit also performs micro-incision sutureless cataract surgery and is the point of referral for the management of complex and more challenging cataract surgery. In the private sector he also offers toric and premium intraocular lenses (IOL), to reduce dependance on glasses.
He is a registered specialist with the General Medical Council (GMC), a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and a member of the British and Eire vitreoretinal Society (BEAVRS), United Kingdom and Ireland Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS) and British Medical Association (BMA).
The eye is the jewel of the body.
-Henry David Thoreau
research excellence
Dr Mehat has research expertise in diseases affecting the retina with a particular focus on the application of gene and stem-cell therapy to treat retinal blindness. He is currently the chief surgeon for the first retinal gene therapy trial in Edinburgh.
In recognition of Dr Mehat’s established track record in eye research, he was recently awarded the prestigious NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Career Research Fellowship Award for developing novel gene and stem cell therapy for retinal disease from National Research Scotland. He is currently a Principal Investigator for a novel age-related macular degeneration clinical trial and Chief Surgeon for the first gene therapy for retinal degeneration clinical trial in Edinburgh.
Manjit has also been a senior-investigator in the world’s first gene therapy trial for an inherited retinopathy, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2015) and more recently a lead author for the first European trial for stem-cell transplantation in macular degeneration (Ophthalmology 2018). Manjit has published and presented over 40 papers on clinical ophthalmology and basic science research at international meetings and in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr Mehat is a former recipient of the prestigious Medical Research Council Fellowship in 2012. He was awarded £250,000 to investigate the application of stem-cell therapy for macular degeneration. He performed his research at the internationally renowned University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology in London. Following the completion of his research he was awarded a PhD from UCL for its successful completion. Manjit was subsequently appointed as a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the UCL and Honorary fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London in 2017.
