Biography

Alex Shortt is a leading ophthalmic surgeon and an expert in the fields of cornea, cataract, lens implants and laser eye surgery. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

He has been performing cataract and lens exchange surgery since 2003, and laser eye surgery since 2010, completing a total of over 5,000 eye surgery procedures in total.

In 2019, Alex merged his own independent eye clinic in London’s famous Harley Street with Optegra to become one of the lead refractive surgery consultants.

Mr Shortt trained and worked as a consultant ophthalmologist at the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital for 14 years. He has received numerous prizes and distinctions including the Fight for Sight prize, the Moorfields Research Medal and both the Crombie and Harcourt medals from The Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

He studied medicine at the National University of Ireland in Dublin. He then studied for an MSc in Physiology at UCD, Dublin followed by a PhD in Ophthalmology at University College London. This was followed by 10 years of specialised clinical, surgical and research training at Moorfields Eye Hospital culminating in his appointment as an NHS consultant at Moorfields.

Mr Shortt sits on the editorial boards of various professional publications and has published extensively himself. He holds a research position at University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology where he and his research team are working to develop new stem cell therapies for corneal blindness.

Mr Shortt works closely with leading manufacturers of the lens implants and lasers used in eye surgery to develop and test new technologies to ensure that Optegra patients have access to the most up to date technology available.

Personal profile

Mr Shortt, father of three, is originally from Dublin and now lives in London. He enjoys playing the guitar at home, mostly 70s rock music, and cooking – his signature dish is chicken chow mein. His perfect holiday is surfing in Southern California.

When asked about the proudest moment in his career, he said: “Becoming a partner with Optegra; as surgeons we don’t just arrive, operate and leave. We have the opportunity to be very personally committed and invested in the hospital group. I am also an Ambassador for our Surrey hospital, a leadership role of which I am very proud.”

What first attracted Alex Shortt to ophthalmology?

It was a personal experience when I was 10 years old and my great aunt lost her vision to cataract. I saw her go to hospital, have surgery and get her sight back. It was miraculous and definitely made me want to go into eye surgery. Seeing patients who feel they have been held back all their lives by poor vision or by a high glasses prescription, and then operating to improve their quality of life, brings me great joy.

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