Dr Darren Shu Jeng Ting MBChB PGCHPE PhD DRCOphth MRCOphth FRCOphth CertLRS

Dr Darren Shu Jeng Ting

Department of Inflammation and Ageing
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow
Consultant Ophthalmologist in Cornea, Ocular Surface, Cataract and Refractive Surgery
Chair, Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) Scientific and Research Committee

Contact details

Email
d.s.j.ting@bham.ac.uk
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Address
Department of Inflammation and Ageing
School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology
College of Medicine and Health
University of Birmingham Research Laboratories
Queen Elizabeth Hospitals Birmingham
B15 2WB

Dr Ting is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Consultant Ophthalmologist and with subspecialty interest in Cornea, Ocular Surface, Cataract and Refractive Surgery. His research interests focus on:

  • Antimicrobial drug discovery and development
  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
  • Corneal and ocular surface diseases, particularly corneal infection
  • Artificial intelligence (AI), digital health innovations and big data
  • Systematic review and meta-analysis

His long-term ambition is to set up a world-class AI-driven drug discovery, development and delivery platform for innovating and translating novel therapies for eye diseases, particularly corneal and ocular surface diseases. 

Ophthalmology Research - University of Birmingham
Google Scholar Profile
ResearchGate Profile 

Qualifications

  • Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (CertLRS), RCOphth, 2023
  • PhD in Ophthalmology, University of Nottingham (UoN), 2021 (awarded Vice Chancellor’s Award for research excellence)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Profession Education (PgCertHPE), Keele University, 2018
  • Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCT) in Ophthalmology (RCOphth), 2018
  • Fellowship in Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth), RCOphth, 2017 (Gold Medal in FRCOphth part 1 exam)
  • Membership in Royal College of Ophthalmologists (MRCOphth), RCOphth.
  • Diploma in Royal College of Ophthalmologists (DRCOphth), RCOphth. (Gold Medal in DRCOphth exam)
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB), University of Edinburgh, 2009

Biography

Dr Ting is a UK accredited Consultant Ophthalmologist and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology with subspecialty interest in Cornea, Ocular Surface, Cataract and Refractive Surgery. He completed his 7-year ophthalmology specialist training in the UK (with double gold medals in UK Ophthalmology National Exams) in 2018 and his PhD in Ophthalmology in 2021 (which was funded by the MRC, Fight for Sight and RCOphth Fellowships).

Since his early medical career, he has aspired to become a Clinician Scientist in Ophthalmology who excels in both clinical and research aspects. To date, he has secured ~£2.8 million research funding as Principal Investigator (including a recent £1.8M MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship) and published >160 peer-reviewed publications (>100 first or last-authored papers), including in high impact journals such as Nature Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Microbe, NPJ Digital Medicine, NPJ Antimicrobial & Resistance, EClinicalMedicine, Ophthalmology, JAMA Ophthalmology, and Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews, amongst others. His academic and research achievement is recognised by more than 35 awards, including the University of Nottingham (UoN) Vice Chancellor's Medal (for research excellence), RCOphth Crombie Medal (gold medal in FRCOphth exam), RCOphth Cornwall Prize (gold medal in DRCOphth exam), UKISCRS Best Poster Prize (for my AMP research), and ARVO travel grant, amongst others.

His current research focuses on several areas, particularly:

  • Antimicrobial drug discovery and development;
  • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR);
  • Corneal and ocular surface diseases, particularly corneal infection;
  • Artificial intelligence (AI), digital health innovations and big data; and
  • Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Teaching

  • Currently supervises PhD, Masters, and Biomedical Sciences students in research
  • Serves as Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) for undergraduate students

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Ting is looking to supervise doctoral students in the following subject areas:

  • Artificial intelligence in eye diseases (especially corneal and ocular surface diseases)
  • Antimicrobial therapy
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Big data research
  • Corneal and ocular surface diseases (particularly corneal infection)
  • Drug discovery and development
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analysis

Research

Areas of expertise

  • Artificial intelligence in eye diseases (especially corneal and ocular surface diseases)
  • Antimicrobial therapy
  • Antimicrobial resistance
  • Big data research
  • Corneal infection (or infectious keratitis)
  • Other corneal and ocular surface diseases
  • Systematic reviews and meta-analysis

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Ting, DSJ, Aung, TT, Mayandi, V, Periayah, MH, Goh, ETL, Muthu, M, Barathi, VA, Mehta, JS, Tan, DTH & Lakshminarayanan, R 2025, 'Biosynthetic ε-poly-L-lysine for the treatment of extensively- and pan-drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa', npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, vol. 3, 77. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44259-025-00142-y

Chen, Y, Crothers, O, Ting, DSJ, Severn, P & Mansoor, Q 2025, 'Outcomes of cataract surgery training among ophthalmology trainees in the independent sector and within the NHS', BMJ Open Ophthalmology, vol. 10, no. 1. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2024-001716

Azzopardi, M, Ng, B, Logeswaran, A, Loizou, C, Cheong, RCT, Gireesh, P, Ting, DSJ & Chong, YJ 2024, 'Artificial intelligence chatbots as sources of patient education material for cataract surgery: ChatGPT-4 versus Google Bard', BMJ Open Ophthalmology, vol. 9, no. 1, e001824. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjophth-2024-001824

Ong, ZZ, Sadek, Y, Qureshi, R, Liu, S-H, Li, T, Liu, X, Takwoingi, Y, Sounderajah, V, Ashrafian, H, Ting, DSW, Mehta, JS, Rauz, S, Said, DG, Dua, HS, Burton, MJ & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Diagnostic Performance of Deep Learning for Infectious Keratitis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis', EClinicalMedicine, vol. 77, 102887. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2024.102887

Bourlaki, M, Khan, M, Bandyopadhyay, S, Sahota, R, Khan, E, Patel, U, Pajaujis, M, Aralikatti, A, Barua, A & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Evaluation of ophthalmic healthcare professional-led keratoconus management service in the United Kingdom: the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) study', Eye (London, England), vol. 38, no. 14, pp. 2838-2840. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03169-z

Thirunavukarasu, AJ, Mahmood, S, Malem, A, Foster, WP, Sanghera, R, Hassan, R, Zhou, S, Wong, SW, Wong, YL, Chong, YJ, Shakeel, A, Chang, Y-H, Tan, BKJ, Jain, N, Tan, TF, Rauz, S, Ting, DSW & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Large language models approach expert-level clinical knowledge and reasoning in ophthalmology: A head-to-head cross-sectional study', PLOS digital health, vol. 3, no. 4, e0000341. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000341

Hammoudeh, Y, Suresh, L, Ong, ZZ, Lister, MM, Mohammed, I, Thomas, DJI, Cottell, JL, Holden, JM, Said, DG, Dua, HS & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Microbiological culture versus 16S/18S rRNA gene PCR-sanger sequencing for infectious keratitis: a three-arm, diagnostic cross-sectional study', Frontiers in Medicine, vol. 11, 1393832. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2024.1393832

Ong, ZZ, Wong, TL, Suresh, L, Hammoudeh, Y, Lister, M, Said, DG, Dua, HS & Ting, DSJ 2023, 'A 7-year review of clinical characteristics, predisposing factors and outcomes of post-keratoplasty infectious keratitis: the Nottingham infectious keratitis study', Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, vol. 13, 1250599. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2023.1250599

Comment/debate

Bourlaki, M, Khan, M, Bandyopadhyay, S, Sahota, R, Khan, E, Patel, U, Pajaujis, M, Aralikatti, A, Barua, A & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Correction: Evaluation of ophthalmic healthcare professional-led keratoconus management service in the United Kingdom: the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) study', Eye, vol. 38, no. 14, 2844 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03226-7

Review article

Ho, CS, Wong, CTH, Aung, TT, Lakshminarayanan, R, Mehta, JS, Rauz, S, McNally, A, Kintses, B, Peacock, SJ, de la Fuente-Nunez, C, Hancock, REW & Ting, DSJ 2025, 'Antimicrobial resistance: a concise update', The Lancet Microbe, vol. 6, no. 1, 100947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanmic.2024.07.010

Barcelo-Canton, RH, Ting, DSJ & Mehta, JS 2025, 'Genetics of Keratoconus: A Comprehensive Review', Genes, vol. 16, no. 10, 1147. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes16101147

Cheng, H, Sarnat, JA, Walker, DI, Madabhushi, A, Singh, A, Dhamdhere, R, Mehta, JS, Wong, TY, Ji, JS, Marsit, CJ, Jones, DP, Ting, DSW, Ting, DSJ & Liang, D 2025, 'Oculomics meets exposomics: a roadmap for applying multi-modal ocular biomarkers in precision environmental health research', Exposome, vol. 5, no. 1, osaf013. https://doi.org/10.1093/exposome/osaf013

Cheng, H, Wong, JLY, Quek, CWN, Goldberg, JL, Mahajan, VB, Wong, TY, Mehta, JS, Ting, DSW & Ting, DSJ 2025, 'Ophthalmic drug discovery and development using artificial intelligence and digital health technologies', NPJ digital medicine, vol. 8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-025-01954-y

Chong, YJ, Azzopardi, M, Hussain, G, Recchioni, A, Gandhewar, J, Loizou, C, Giachos, I, Barua, A & Ting, DSJ 2024, 'Clinical Applications of Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography: An Updated Review', Diagnostics, vol. 14, no. 2, 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14020122

Azzopardi, M, Chong, YJ, Ng, B, Recchioni, A, Logeswaran, A, Ting, DSJ & Han, J-H (ed.) 2023, 'Diagnosis of Acanthamoeba Keratitis: Past, Present and Future', Diagnostics, vol. 13, no. 16, 2655. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13162655

View all publications in research portal