Prof. m. Francesca Cordeiro
FOUNDER & Chief EXECUTIVE Officer
Prof. M. Francesca Cordeiro
Founder & CEO, Novai Ltd
Prof. M. Francesca Cordeiro is a clinician-scientist, Chair of Ophthalmology at Imperial College London, and UCL Professor of Glaucoma and Retinal Neurodegeneration. She is also Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Research Lead at the Western Eye Hospital, where she directs the ICORG Clinical Trials Unit.
Francesca qualified in medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital, University of London, and obtained MRCP (UK) and FRCOphth, specializing in ophthalmology with training at Moorfields Eye and St Thomas' Hospitals. She earned her PhD in 1998 on TGF-beta and surgical wound healing through a Wellcome Trust Vision Training Fellowship, winning the 2000 International Glaucoma Review Award and the Moorfields Research Medal.
Her research, continuously funded by the Wellcome Trust since 1996, focuses on innovative molecular approaches to save sight and reduce disability, with the goal of translating findings into patient care. In 2001, a Wellcome Trust University Award enabled her to become a Principal Investigator at UCL, and she later became Honorary Consultant at Western Eye Hospital while leading a research group at the Institute of Ophthalmology.
Francesca has over 150 peer-reviewed publications, 8 patents, and has delivered over 200 invited talks at national and international meetings. She is actively involved in organizing scientific symposia and sits on various international committees, including the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and the European Glaucoma Society, where she chairs the Neuroprotection SIG.
She serves on the editorial boards of journals such as Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science and Experimental Eye Research. She also participates in peer review panels for organizations like the Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council (UK), and Brain Canada.
Francesca has mentored and supervised numerous undergraduates and postgraduates, particularly promoting the training of academic ophthalmologists. She has received several prestigious awards, including the Lewis Rudin Glaucoma Prize (2005), the GG2 Diversity Award for Outstanding Achievement in Medicine (2017), and the Duke Elder Award (2019).
Currently, she is a Trustee for Fight for Sight Charity and serves as CEO of Novai Ltd which she founded in February 2020.