The cornea is the unsung hero of diagnosing neurodegeneration, says Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD

During the second weekend of June, Heidelberg Engineering will open its new Heidelberg Congress Center for the 21st International SPECTRALIS Symposium (ISS). The meeting in Heidelberg, Germany, begins on Friday, 13 June with a scientific programme including topics like oculomics, age-related macular degeneration and distributed care models.

Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, spoke with Ophthalmology Times Europe about his presentation. It's titled "An eye on neurodegenerative diseases: Challenging the dogma." During his lecture, Prof Malik demonstrated the potential of corneal confocal microscopy as an effective diagnostic tool for patients with markers of neurodegenerative disease.

In the first of two video interviews, Prof Malik explained why the cornea is a particularly viable source of biomarkers and described the unique anatomical features of the anterior segment which are the focus of his research. Watch the full video to hear what he shared at the ISS.