About Us
As a society we seek to facilitate improvements in the safety and quality of care for patients undergoing ophthalmic surgery as well as providing a foundation for education, training and research.
Key Activities
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Best Practice. We advise UK national bodies on matters relating to ophthalmic anaesthesia and contribute to best practice guidelines.
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Education. BOAS is committed to training and mentoring the next generation of ophthalmic anaesthetists and allied health professionals. Each year we aim to hold an Annual Scientific Meeting and, as a member you will be entitled to a discounted rate on your registration.
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BOAS Journal. Each year we publish a journal and a Newsletter which is available to all members in our exclusive online member’s area. Access is also granted to all previous editions dating back to 2013.
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Global Network. The British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society supports the European society of Ophthalmic anaesthesia (ESOA) and the World Congress of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia (WCOA).
BOAS Council Members
Dr Andrew Presland
BOAS President
Dr Andrew Presland is an anaesthetic consultant and the current President of BOAS. He trained mainly in London, and, since 2002 has been a consultant at Moorfields Eye Hospital, practising exclusively in the field of ophthalmic anaesthesia. He has a wide experience in both paediatric and adult practice for all ophthalmic subspecialties and also have a keen interest in education. A member of BOAS council since 2017, he has organised and contributed to numerous meetings, authored national guidelines, and a number of book chapters on ophthalmic anaesthesia.
Dr Adrian Kwa
BOAS Secretary
Dr Adrian Kwa is a specialist anaesthetist and Head of Service for Ophthalmology at Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust. He was the Lead Clinician for Ophthalmic Anaesthesia at Nottingham from 2017 to 2023. He has been a council member of BOAS since 2018, and Honorary Secretary of BOAS since 2022. Adrian created his own ophthalmic block simulator to teach sub-tenon and peribulbar blocks. He has been running the Ophthalmic Block Workshop for BOAS since 2019, and at international meetings since 2023. Feedback from candidates have always been excellent. He has also organised and chair several national meetings on Ophthalmic Anaesthesia. Adrian developed the multi award-winning NUH Guidelines app for his Trust in. He was part of the working group of the RCOphth / SALG Gas in Eye Wristband and Card in 2020. His latest endeavour is the Nottingham Faster Turnover Cataract Pathway, for which he was named as Clinician of the Year Award at the Healthcare Finance Management Association Annual Award in 2023. The pathway has also recently been shortlisted for NHS Innovation Awards 2024. He is currently part of the working group of the next iteration of the RCOphth / RCoA Ophthalmic Local Anaesthesia Guideline.
Dr Junia Rahman
BOAS Treasurer
Junia Rahman is a consultant anaesthetist at Moorfields Eye Hospital where her main area of work is adnexal and extraocular surgery. She is currently the treasurer of BOAS and her interests include medical law and ethics.
Mr Tom Eke
BOAS Past President
Mr Tom Eke is an ophthalmologist with an interest in safer, more efficient, and patient-friendly anaesthetic techniques. He has led several studies into safety aspects of local anaesthesia in eye surgery and been an active member of BOAS for over 20 years. He helped to prepare the 2012 Royal Colleges’ National Guideline on ‘local anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery’, and the planned update. He is very keen to promote safer/kinder methods of eye anaesthesia and has developed a technique that allows cataract surgery for people who are unable to lie flat for medical reasons. He has trained anaesthetic techniques in numerous countries and on-line platforms, and helped organise the last two World Congresses of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia. Over the decades, he has seen how BOAS has helped to improve things for eye patients around the world, and is proud to be associated with this organisation.
Dr Jonathan Clarke
Journal Editor
Dr Clarke has had a major interest in ophthalmic anaesthesia for 25 years. During this time, he has had a career in Australia with the Flinders Medical School and the Flinders Eye Centre. He has been a BOAS council member for 3 years with a role in the journal and now editor. More recently, he has worked solely in ophthalmic anaesthesia in private practice. Outside work, he enjoys a sunny day, of which we have many, and a good dose of exercise. A further interest is being involved in raising guide dog puppies, which has been exceptionally rewarding.
Dr Santhana Kannan
Council Member
Dr. Kannan is a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, Birmingham, UK since 2003. He is a BOAS Council member and has served as the Treasurer of BOAS (2017-2023) and Editor-in-Chief of ‘Ophthalmic Anaesthesia’ journal (2020-2023). He has contributed to GPAS guidelines in Ophthalmic Anaesthesia. He has keen interest in research and has more than 60 publications including chapters in books. He has been invited faculty for several conferences nationally and internationally. His hobbies include playwrighting and has penned 5 plays to date.
Dr Anand Arora
Council Member
Dr Anand Arora is a senior consultant at the Birmingham and Midlands eye centre ( BMEC) as a consultant anaesthetist and lead for ophthalmic anaesthesia. He has been involved with the BOAS council in various roles including arranging national and international conferences and managing the website over many years. He has a special interest in ophthalmic local anaesthesia blocks. Outside medicine, he loves travel and cooking.
Dr Andrey Varvinskiy
Council Member
Dr Andrey Varvinskiy graduated from Northern State Medical University (1986) and trained in surgery and anaesthesia at University Hospital of Arkhangelsk. Moved to the UK in 1995 and undertook training in Anaesthesia and Intensive care in Bristol and Cardiff. A Consultant Anaesthetist at Torbay Hospital since 2001, his main interests include ophthalmic and regional anaesthesia, difficult airway management and education. Andrey has been the Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Lead and Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioners training programme Lead since 2004. Presented at BOAS meetings, run workshops and organised and chaired the BOAS 2023 meeting in Torquay. Worked as an Examiner at the RCoA for 12 years and is current EDAIC examiner. Additional roles include Past Chair of the ESAIC Examinations Committee, co-founding member of Peninsula Primary FRCA MCQ Course, lecturer at RCoA FRCA Primary Masterclass, ESAIC Basic Science Anaesthesia Course and ESAIC Viva Practice Course. Co-founding member of the Torbay Difficult Airway Course and SWEAT (South-West Emergency Airway Training) Course. Andrey has taught at numerous Airway Workshops at the RCoA and AAGBI. Past Chair of SWAMS (South-West Airway Management Society). Published several anaesthesia articles, 3 book chapters and is a first author of “How to pass the EDAIC” book. Presented on ophthalmic anesthesia, airway, and other topics at various meetings in the UK and abroad. Acts as a medical translator for anaesthetic textbooks from English into Russian including “Miller’s Anaesthesia”, “Textbook of Critical Care”, etc. Keen triathlete, cyclist, and a long-distance swimmer.
Dr Jawaad Malik
Council Member
Dr Jawaad "Bobby" Malik is a Pain Medicine Specialist and Consultant Anaesthetist who joined Ashford and St Peter's Hospital in 2023. Graduating from St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine in 2008, he furthered his training at the Imperial School of Anaesthesia and Central London. Bobby completed his training in esteemed teaching hospitals such as The Royal Marsden, The Royal Free, The Royal London, UCL, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Charing Cross, Hammersmith, and St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, with additional Pain fellowship training at Imperial and Ophthalmic anaesthesia fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital. He has also been involved in writing the Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthetic Services (GPAS) in the UK and has a special interest in ocular neuropathic pain. Residing in Surrey, outside his professional commitments, Bobby finds joy in travel and quality time with friends and family.
Dr Senthil Vijayan
Council Member
Dr. Senthil K Vijayan is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. He is highly passionate about improving Ophthalmic anaesthesia across the world through collaboration and networking. His other interests include Medical Leadership and Teaching. He is the Director of Consultant Interview course at Moorfields. His medical training gave him an unique opportunity to work in both first and second eye hospitals in the world. Having worked in different health care systems across the world, he has a great insight into the various challenges in every system. He is interested in different models of eye care delivery and very keen to learn from other world leaders in eye care and bring best practices to NHS. He teaches regularly on the MSc programme at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He is a big advocate of Patient Safety and teaches on the role of Human Factors in theatre environment with a huge emphasis on communication within and between teams. He loves cooking and is talk “Curry on” is quite famous!
Dr Stefanos Ioannidis
Trainee Council Member
Dr Stefanos Ioannidis is an anaesthetic registrar and trainee council member. During his fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital, he was extensively involved in ophthalmic anaesthesia, a subspecialty he greatly enjoys. He keeps an active interest in the field by sitting on the national ‘local anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery’ guideline development group. Through his passion for teaching and recruitment, Stefanos has set up an ophthalmic anaesthesia day for London trainees and an interview course for anaesthesia higher training. He warmly invites trainees to consider this exciting subspecialty for their future careers and join the welcoming BOAS community.
Dr Friedrich Lersch
European Liaison Officer
Dr Friedrich Lersch is head of the anaesthetic team (Eye hospital & Plastic surgery) at Inselspital, Berne University Hospital. he is board certified in anaesthesia, critical care and internal medicine and has a Masters in Sleep Neuroscience. He is also a Board member of Swiss Association of Regional Anaesthesia. Interested in perioperative EEG, Neuroscience, Multimodal Anaesthesie, Teaching
Prof Chandra Kumar
Co-Founder of BOAS
Visiting Professor, Newcastle University Medical School (2016- 2024) Senior Consultant Anaesthetist, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore (2011-2023) Visiting Professor, University of Teesside (2004-2014) Consultant Anaesthetist, James Cook University Hospital, UK (1987-2011) Interest includes ophthalmic, elderly, and regional anaesthesia Founder, British Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Society Founder, World Congress of Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Co-founder of Society for Education in Anaesthesia (UK) Lectured widely and conducted master classes on ophthalmic and regional anaesthesia Contributed >200 peer reviewed articles Edited 8 textbooks in anaesthesia including ophthalmic anaesthesia and elder
Dr Chris Dodds
Co-Founder of BOAS
Dr Chris Dodds was one of Prof Chandra Kumar's group who inaugurated BOAS and second President after Bob Johnson. He was President of the Cairo WCOA in 2008, an invited speaker / demonstrator of WCOA (and WFSA up to 2012.). He has been given the Lifetime Achievement Award from BOAS and has been a Council member of BOAS since its formation. Additional roles include VP of RCOA, Council of RCOA, Clinical director of multi disciplinary Sleep Clinic, Associate Medical Director of James Cook University Hospital, Visiting Chair at Durham and Teesside Universities, Founding member of Age Anaesthesia Association (AAA) - Awarded Lifetime Achievement from AAA.
Benefits of BOAS Membership
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Exclusive access to the BOAS Member's Area
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Discounts on future BOAS scientific meetings & webinars
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Subscription to the current and previous editions of the Ophthalmic Anaesthesia Journal
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Access to a members forum where you can obtain advice from experts in the field
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Eligibility for election to the BOAS Council