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About

Robert E. MacLaren is a pioneering ophthalmic surgeon and researcher whose work sits at the intersection of robotic surgery and gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases. Based at the University of Oxford, MacLaren has fundamentally advanced the field of vitreoretinal surgery by demonstrating that robotic systems can surpass the limits of human manual dexterity in one of medicine's most precision-demanding disciplines. MacLaren's landmark 2018 first-in-human study of intraocular robotic surgery (215 citations) established proof-of-concept for an entirely new surgical paradigm, followed by groundbreaking work demonstrating robot-assisted subretinal drug delivery under local anesthesia. Alongside these technological achievements, he has been instrumental in developing and refining gene therapy delivery techniques for conditions including choroideremia, RPE65-associated retinal dystrophy, and X-linked retinitis pigmentosa — being among only two surgeons globally to perform RPE65 gene therapy in a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial. His cumulative body of work, spanning systematic reviews, surgical technique papers, and clinical trials, has shaped how the field conceptualizes precision retinal intervention. With over 400 citations across his robotics-focused publications alone, MacLaren's research continues to redefine the boundaries of what is surgically possible inside the human eye.