Optometry and Vision Science Research Group Members

Miss 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; Co-Lead for the NI Clinical Research Network and Visiting Professor the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

Miss Silvestri’s programme of research has focused on genetic predisposition and causative genetic mutations in ophthalmic diseases with emphasis on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited retinal disorders.  Miss Silvestri has successfully led a research team with a cumulative grant income of circa 2 million, has published 82 peer-reviewed publication and successfully supervised students to both MD and PhD level. Miss Silvestri also has extensive undergraduate and postgraduate clinical teaching experience, has held many administrative positions at both QUB and the Belfast Trust. Miss Silvestri has served as an Examiner for both the Royal Colleges of Ophthalmology, London and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and has held a number of positions on Grant Review Committees. Miss Silvestri has an international recognised for her clinical expertise in retinal disease and intraocular magnifying devices for AMD.

Thesis Title:

Beta-amyloid accumulation & cataract in the Down Syndrome eye

Supervisors:

Dr Julie-Anne Little and Prof. Kathryn Saunders

Thesis Title:

The Special Education Eyecare (SEE) project: Exploring the Impact on Visual Health of In-School Vision Care for Children in Special Education

Supervisors:

Dr Julie McClelland and Prof Kathryn Saunders

Thesis Title:

Myopian circadian rythym: understanding myopic progression and intervention

Supervisors:

Prof. Kathryn Saunders, Dr Karen Breslin and Dr Julie Sittlington

Thesis Title:

Exploring spatiotemporal summation in age-related macular disease

Supervisors:

Dr Padraig Mulholland, Prof Roger Anderson, Dr Tony Redmond (Cardiff University) and Prof. David Garway-Heath (UCL/Moorfields Eye Hospital)

Thesis title:

The crystal ball of myopia: is there a better way of predicting myopia progression?

Supervisors:

Dr Padraig Mullholland, Prof Roger Anderson and Prof Kathryn Saunders.

Thesis Title:

The future of cataract assessment: Investigation of the utility of a novel binocular OCT system for clinical application

Supervisors:

Dr Julie-Anne Little, Dr Padraig Mulholland and Mr Pease Keane (UCL/Moorfields Eye hospital)

Thesis Title:

Focussing on near work: the impact of uncorrected hyperopic refractive errors

Supervisors:

Dr Julie-Anne Little and Prof. Kathryn Saunders

Thesis Title:

Investigating the diagnosis and management of Cerebral Visual Impairment in children with Down syndrome and other special educational needs

Supervisors:

Prof Kathryn Saunders and Dr Julie-Anne Little