Professor Richard Gale is an internationally recognised expert in medical diseases of the retina including age related macular degeneration, and a practising ophthalmologist in York and North Lincolnshire. In 2017, He was awarded ‘researcher of the year’ by the National Institute for Health Research/ Royal College of Ophthalmologists. Richard has been principal investigator of approximately 40 research studies, recruiting thousands of participants to date and has been awarded substantial research grant funding. He has published over 120 scientific papers and book chapters. Recently, Richard established ‘The Yorkshire macular degeneration fund’ with Dame Judy Dench as the patron.