Chien Wong | International and Private Care

Mr Chien Wong is a Consultant Vitreoretinal Surgeon specialising in the treatment of both paediatric and adult vitreoretinal diseases. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in complex paediatric vitreoretinal surgery, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) surgery, and endoscopic vitrectomy in infants and young children.

He leads the UK's national Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) Retinal Detachment Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), providing highly specialised care for one of the most challenging conditions in paediatric retinal surgery. In 2014, he introduced endoscopic vitrectomy for ROP to the UK. Under his leadership, GOSH established the UK’s national referral centre for ROP retinal detachment surgery, transforming care for premature babies across the British Isles.

He is among a small number of ophthalmologists worldwide with a super-specialist practice encompassing complex paediatric vitreoretinal surgery, paediatric retinal vascular disease, and adult vitreoretinal surgery. He is also recognised as a world-leading authority in endoscopic vitreoretinal surgery.

His clinical and research interests include adult and paediatric vitreoretinal surgery, paediatric retinal vascular disorders, genomic medicine, surgical approaches for retinal gene therapy, and the development of innovative vitreoretinal surgical technologies. In 2020, he delivered the first-in-human retinal gene therapy treatment for children with the ultra-rare inherited retinal disease AIPL1 at GOSH as part of a UCL research team, with the results subsequently published in The Lancet.

In 2024, Expertscape ranked him number one in the UK and among the top five globally for published expertise in vitreoretinal surgery. He has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to numerous book chapters, received over 20 national and international prizes and awards, and delivered more than 100 invited lectures. He has also trained vitreoretinal surgical teams internationally through charitable organisations in Armenia, Rwanda, and China.

His expertise is regularly sought by the media and has been featured on BBC Breakfast and the BBC World Service.

He is committed to delivering the highest standard of personalised care, combining internationally recognised expertise with a compassionate, patient-centred approach.

Languages Spoken:

English
Mandarin

Paediatric vitreoretinal surgery
ROP retinal detachment surgery (stage 4 and 5)
Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR)
Coats disease
Incontinentia pigmenti
Epiretinal membrane
Persistent fetal vasculature syndrome (PFVS or PHPV)
Optic disc pit maculopathy
Macular hole

ROP surgery
Neonatal and paediatric vitreoretinal surgery
Adult vitreoretinal surgery

Training:

Fellowship, Vitreoretinal surgery, Moorfields Eye Hospital
Superspecialty 2.5 years paediatric vitreoretinal surgical training in the USA at (i) William Beaumont Hospital, Michigan (Professors Trese, Capone & Drenser) and (ii) Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (Prof. Thomas Lee)
Darzi Clinical Leadership Fellow, Moorfields Eye Hospital. Inaugural group of cross-specialty fellows in the UK. Spearheaded development of innovative leadership programme at Moorfields with multiple awards.
MB BS 
Royal College of Surgeons - FRCSEd(Ophth) 
Royal College of Ophthalmologists UK - MRCOphth
UK General Medical Council (GMC) number 4635118
USA ECFMG USMLE certification

Membership 

British and Eire Association of Vitreoretinal Surgeons (BEAVRS)
European Retina society (EURETINA)
American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS)
American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Retina Society
Association of Pediatric Retinal Surgeons
Working with the California-based NGO the Armenian Eye Care Project (www.aecp.com), supported by the Armenian Health Ministry and funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
Mr. Wong is on several scientific advisory boards of vitreoretinal surgical companies (by invitation)

Mr. Wong is interested in ways to improve the outcomes of paediatric vitreoretinal surgery and collaborates with leading international specialists in the field. His interests include:

UK Chief Investigator and Moorfields Eye Hospital Principal Investigator for the RAINBOW trial, an international randomised controlled trial comparing anti-VEGF (Lucentis) and laser treatment in ROP.
Co-investigator and retinal surgeon in three phase I/II gene therapy trial.
Surgical innovation in paediatric vitreoretinal surgery, including ROP and FEVR
Endoscopic vitrectomy for complex retinal detachment in infants and young children, including ROP, FEVR, trauma and post-retinoblastoma treated eyes. 
Surgery for ROP. International collaboration to examine the role of bilateral simultaneous vitreoretinal surgery in babies with retinal detachment in ROP
FEVR surgical outcomes
Retinovascular diseases
OCT angiography imaging in Coats’ disease, FEVR and Incontinentia pigmenti.

Mr Wong has received over 20 prizes and awards (national and international) over his career, including from the Special Trustees of Moorfields Eye Hospital (2011, 2012), EURETINA (2011), American Academy of Ophthalmology (2007, 2013, 2017) and American Society of Retina Specialists (2011, 2012).

In 2017, he was named in the annual Power List, a global top 50 list of rising stars in ophthalmology.

Videos
Images

News
Publications & articles

Mr Wong has published extensively in paediatric vitreoretinal surgery. Selection from over 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications:

Wong SC, Wawrzynski J, Yeo D, Williams K, Henderson R, Patel CK. Simultaneous wide-angle viewing and endoscope-assisted 23-gauge vitrectomy for stage 4 retinopathy of prematurity: outcomes from the first 108 cases (report 1). In submission (2026)

Michaelides M, Laich Y, Wong SC, Oluonye N, Zaman S, Kumaran N, Kalitzeos A, Petrushkin H, Georgiou M, Tailor V, Pabst M, Staeubli K, Mor RM, Jones PR, Scholte HS, Georgiadis A, van der Spuy J, Naylor S, Forbes A, Dekker T, Arulmuthu E, Smith AJ, Ali RR, Bainbridge JWB. Gene therapy in children with AIPL1-associated severe retinal dystrophy. Lancet. 2025 Feb 22;405(10479):648-657.

Michaelides M, Besirli CG, Yang Y, de Guimaraes TAC, Wong SC, Huckfeldt RM, Comander JI, Sahel JA, Shah SM, Tee JJL, Kumaran N, Georgiadis A, Minnick P, Zeldin R, Naylor S, Xu J, Clark M, Anglade E, Wong P, Fleck PR, Fung A, Peluso C, Kalitzeos A, Georgiou M, Ripamonti C, Smith AJ, Ali RR, Forbes A, Bainbridge J. Phase 1/2 AAV5-hRKp.RPGR (Botaretigene Sparoparvovec) Gene Therapy: Safety and Efficacy in RPGR-associated X-linked Retinitis Pigmentosa. Am J Ophthalmol. 2024 Jun 11:S0002-9394(24)00244-7.

Michaelides M, Hirji N, Wong SC, Besirli CG, Zaman S, Kumaran N, Georgiadis A, Smith AJ, Ripamonti C, Gottlob I, Robson AG, Thiadens A, Henderson RH, Fleck P, Anglade E, Dong X, Capuano G, Lu W, Berry P, Kane T, Naylor S, Georgiou M, Kalitzeos A, Ali RR, Forbes A, Bainbridge J. First-in-Human Gene Therapy Trial of AAV8-hCARp.hCNGB3 in Adults and Children With CNGB3-associated Achromatopsia. Am J Ophthalmol. 2023 May 11;253:243-251.

Wong SC. Scripsema N. Inner Retinal Fenestration for Pediatric Optic Disc Pit Maculopathy: A Case Series. Eye (Lond). 2022 Nov;36(11):2111-2115. doi: 10.1038/s41433-021-01813-6. Epub 2021 Oct 21.

Patel CK, Carreras E, Henderson RH, Wong SC, Berg S. Evolving outcomes of surgery for retinal detachment in retinopathy of prematurity: the need for a national service in the United Kingdom : An audit of surgery for acute tractional retinal detachment complicating ROP in the UK. Eye (Lond). 2022 Aug;36(8):1590-1596.

Rossin E, Tsui I, Wong SC, Hou KK, Prakhunhungsit S, Blair P, Shapiro M, Lieshman L, Nagiel A, Jacob L, Quiram P, Ringeisen A, Henderson R, Arruti N, Buzzacco D, Kusaka S, Ferron e P, Belin P, Chang E, Hubschman JP, Murray TG, Leung EH, Wu WC, Olsen KR, Harper CA, Rahmani S, Goldstein J, Lee TC, Nudleman E, Cernichiaro-Espinosa C, Chhablani J, Berrocal A, Yonekawa Y. Traumatic retinal detachment in patients with self-injurious behavior: an international multicenter study. Ophthalmol Retina. 2021;5(8):805-814.

Lai FHP, Wong EWN, Lam WC, Lee TC, Wong SC, Nagiel A, Lam RF. Endoscopic Vitreoretinal Surgery: Review of Current Applications and Future Trends. Survey of Ophthalmology. 2021;66(2)198-212.

Nagiel A, Yang U, Reid MW, Anulao KJ, Say EAT, Wong SC, Lee TC. Visual and anatomic outcomes of pediatric endoscopic vitrectomy in 326 cases. Retina 2020 Nov;40(11):2081-2090.

Schwartz R, Sivaprasad S, Macphee R, Ibanez P, Keane PA, Michaelides M, Wong SC. SUBCLINICAL MACULAR CHANGES AND DISEASE LATERALITY IN PEDIATRIC COATS DISEASE DETERMINED BY QUANTITATIVE OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY. Retina. 2019:39(12):2392-2398.

Badhwar V, Yeo D, Joshi S, Wong SC, Reddy MA. An 11-month-old girl with a retinal detachment. Digit J Ophthalmol. 2019 May 11;25(2):33-36.

Jeng-Miller KW, Soomro T, Scott NL, Rao P, Marlow E, Chang EY, Ells A, Chau F, Nudleman E, Calvo CM, Patel N, Schwartz R, Cernichiaro-Espinosa LA, Montoya AG, Goldstein J, Harper CA 3rd, Baumal CR, Hartnett ME, Harbour JW, Besirli CG, Gupta MP, Chan RVP, Drenser KA, Capone A Jr, Murray TG, Mukai S, Trese MT, Berrocal AM, Wong SC, Yonekawa Y. Longitudinal Examination of Fellow-Eye Vascular Anomalies in Coats' Disease With Widefield Fluorescein Angiography: A Multicenter Study. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019 Apr 1;50(4):221-227.

Moosajee M, Ali MA, Wong SC. Retinal angiographic findings in a surviving male infant with combined Incontinentia pigmenti and HbSC disease. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2018 Nov 1;136(11).

Yeo D, Nagiel A, Yang U, Lee TC, Wong SC. Endoscopy for pediatric retinal disease. Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila). 2018 May-Jun;7(3):200-207

Yonekawa Y, Wu W, Kusaka S, Robinson S, Tsujioka D, Kang K, Shapiro M, Padhi T, Jain L, Sears J, Kuriyan A, Berrocal A, Quiram P, Gerber A, Chan RVP, Jonas K, Wong SC, Patel CK, Abbey A, Spencer R, Blair M, Chang E, Papakostas T, Vavivas D, Sisk R, Ferrone P, Henderson R, Olsen K, Thomas B, Meza PA, Drenser K, Trese M, Capone A. Immediate Sequential Bilateral Pediatric Vitreoretinal Surgery. Ophthalmol 2016;123:1802-1808

Wong SC, Capone A. Illumination techniques for complex pediatric anterior retinal detachment and associated retrolental plaque. Retina 2015;35(9):1905-7.

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