Consultant interview - Dr Erika Damato

What are your areas of expertise?

I specialise in the management of inflammatory eye diseases, such as uveitis, scleritis, thyroid eye disease and orbital inflammation, and systemic disease with ocular involvement. This includes patients with autoimmune conditions with ocular manifestations and infections or malignancies with ocular involvement. A significant proportion of my patients require systemic immunosuppression and multidisciplinary working.

Why do patients come to see you?

Patients come to see me for diagnosis and management of their condition, which may require long-term follow-up and monitoring. I am highly specialised in the field of ocular inflammation and medical ophthalmology and have significant clinical experience.

What are your research interests?

My clinical research includes co-authoring 27 peer-reviewed articles and participating in clinical research.

I am currently actively involved in a number of clinical trials, including acting as the principal investigator for the LIDS study (investigating new treatments for thyroid eye disease) and the ASTUTE study (investigating the early use of anti-TNF therapy in adult non-infectious uveitis). I am also a sub-investigator on the HORIZON study investigating the use of teprotumumab in both active and inactive thyroid eye disease.