Ms Sharon (Ling Zhi) Heng
MBBS, PhD, FRCOphth, FHEA
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
English EnglishMs Sharon Heng is a multi lingual consultant ophthalmic surgeon with her NHS practice at the world renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital.
She is a specialist in medical retina diseases and cataracts. She is the service director for Medical Retina Service, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Clinical Lead of the Medical Retina Digital Clinics at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Lead of the Northwest Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Program at Ealing Moorfields. Ms Heng has been practicing Ophthalmology in excess of 15 years.
Ms Heng graduated from the National University of Singapore and came to UK to pursue her PhD on preventative therapy in Age Related Macular Degeneration under the pupillage of Professor John Marshall (father of excimer laser in refractive surgery) and Professor Sobha Sivaprasad at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London. She underwent her clinical training at the Severn Deanery and Bristol Eye Hospital and returned to Moorfields as clinical fellow and then a consultant, clinical lead and service director.
Ms Heng believes strongly in training the next generation of ophthalmologists and allied health professionals and is actively involved in developing teaching modules and programs for education within the NHS and beyond. She has travelled to China to assist in developing education programs for the local doctors. She was also involved in the development of diabetic retinopathy screening program and laser teaching for chinese ophthalmologists in China with Professor Peter Scanlon. She is also supervisor to several masters students at the Institute of Ophthalmology , UCL in retina diseases. She has also been chair or speaker for numerous preceptorship programs hosting foreign doctors from Australia, UAE etc and founded the Moorfields Retina Laser Course.
Ms Heng is a co-editor on the Inspire Program (medical retina) by the Royal College of Ophthalmologist and sits an editorial board member of the Eye Journal.
Ms Heng is also active in research and is chief investigator for several clinical looking at inequality within the medical retina digital clinics and treatment burden and efficacy across different types of Wet AMD antivegf treatment to patients and their carers.
She was also involved as principal and sub-investigator of numerous pivotal clinical trials including the 2RT RETILASE study and OZLASE study(one of the first studies to evaluate use of ozurdex steroid implant in diabetic macular oedema in the UK) in the course of her career.
She has made in excess of 50 international presentations across the world.
Ms Heng currently sits as a steering group committee member for pharmaceutical companies advising on treatment biomarkers and was heavily involved in the publication of the Handbook for ‘Biomarkers in Diabetic Macular Oedema’ with Abbvie Ltd for healthcare professionals. She also sat as an expert advisor for new retina diseases treatment for MHRA (Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) in January and July 2026.
Ms Heng actively participates in community service and has contributed as chair the National University of Singapore Alumni from 2017 to 2023, building bridge between Singaporeans and alumnus and the British fraternity.
Ms Heng speaks English, Mandarin and understands Cantonese and Hokkien.
AMD is a progressive eye condition affecting the macula, the central part of the retina responsible for sharp, central vision.
Diabetes is a complex metabolic condition that can affect various organs in the body, including the eyes.
Retina vein occlusion or also known as retinal vascular occlusion is a known cause of sudden painless loss of vision.
CSCR affects the retina which is the light sensitive layer at the back of your eye which captures images and enables you to see.
Rare retina diseases can affect vision in complex ways and may require careful diagnosis, monitoring, and specialist care.
The retina is a complex and delicate layer of tissue located at the back of the eye, comparable to the film in a camera.
Intravitreal injections means injection into the vitreous of the eye – this may be a course of Anti-VEGF injections.
Cataracts are a common eye condition that can significantly impact your vision and quality of life.
Refractive lens exchange is also known as lens replacement surgery or clear lens exchange is a vision correction surgery aimed to permanently correct the focus of one’s vision.
Some cataracts caused by previous surgeries, trauma or have associated other diseases, or simply left too late, may add challenges to a cataract surgical procedure or added consideration to refractive outcomes
Proactive eye care is the best step toward preserving long-term vision health.
