Grand Challenges

When we collaborate to reach milestones that can seem almost unattainable... by thinking big

Think how JFK's now cliched 'moonshot' got humans to the moon!

Our own Pete Coffey and his team established the London Project to Cure Blindness which drew together discovery scientists, clinician scientists, administrators, philanthropists and industry to deliver RPE on a sheet to the back of the eye.

These grand challenges have shared characteristics

At first glance seem near impossible but in reality, become tractable
Definable and with a distinct, unambiguous outcome that delivers impact
Demanding of teams, usually with diverse skill sets and united through a shared sense of mission
They have strong leadership
Phil Luthert talks about Grand Challenges and how we can work together to achieve significant lasting results

What might this work look like?

  • For scientists it is an opportunity to deliver something exciting and worthwhile to the world that has the potential to impact human life positively. In our current changing, evolving and fast-paced climate, it is an opportunity to access sources of funding that might otherwise be inaccessible. Additionally, the satisfaction of working in a high performing team with other like-minded people.

What might this work look like, think about what the greatest challenges are in ophthalmology?

  • Halving the rate of progression of early to late AMD (Age related Macular Degeneration) by 2032

  • Creating an in-silico model of the human eye that predicts individuals’ risk of developing sight-threatening AMD or glaucoma over the following 20 years with 85% precision
  • Creating a real-time ophthalmic patient research informatics framework that includes all local diagnostics, demographics, clinical features, and national health records fully anonymised
  • Creating a new paradigm for ophthalmic care that reduces provider costs by 25% and doubles patient satisfaction and patient safety

How can we develop these ideas further?

We can work towards developing Grand challenges by following this pathway:
  • Individuals making suggestions.
  • Workshops raising opportunities.
  • Groups prepared to come together and work up one or more proposal.
  • Building a coalition of support around proposals whilst acknowledging that most of what we are doing won't be part of a grand challenge.
  • At every stage seeking to involve patients, scientists, clinicians, carers, funders, support staff, potential donors.
  • Definition of a process to finally identify which of a limited number of grand challenges is taken forward.

Look at the UCL (University College London) Grand challenges website for some ideas.


If you're inspired with an idea for a Grand Challenge or want to see what others are doing join the Hub now.