Julie Silvestri is clinical director for ophthalmic services at the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, honorary senior lecturer at the Centre for Experimental Medicine at Queen's University Belfast and co-lead for the NI Clinical Research Network. Miss Silvestri's programme of research focuses on genetic predisposition and causative genetic mutations in ophthalmic diseases with emphasis on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited retinal disorders. She has successfully led a research team with a cumulative grant income of circa 2 million, has published over 80 peer-reviewed publications and served as an examiner for both the Royal College of Ophthalmology, London and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.