Professional portrait photograph of Dr Arun Thirunavukarasu.

Dr Arun J. Thirunavukarasu

MA MB BChir (Cantab.)

I am an Academic Foundation Doctor and Clinical Research Fellow at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Oxford. I also serve as the 'AI & Oculomics' Section Editor at Eye News, Academic Editor at PLOS Digital Health, and as a Rising Leader Fellow of the Aspen Institute UK.

I read medicine with Distinction and neuroscience with Double-First Class Honours at University of Cambridge, graduating as a Scholar of Corpus Christi College. I then won an Academic Foundation Programme post at University of Oxford as first-ranked candidate nationally. I am an active researcher with 50+ international presentations and peer-reviewed publications, and my work has been cited over 3,000 times. I have won several academic prizes for my work, including awards from Royal Society of Medicine, Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and Lord Mayor of London. My work has been featured by the Financial Times, Sky News, BBC News, Der Spiegel, and others.

I am pursuing a keen interest in academic and clinical ophthalmology, and will begin specialty training as an Academic Clinical Fellow in London in 2025. My research spans digital innovation and artificial intelligence, and I am especially interested in using technology to improve eye care through evidence-based medicine.

Awards and Prizes

2024

Wallace Foulds Prize • Royal College of Ophthalmologists

Bell Session Presentation Prize • Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School

NFDPD Poster Prize • United Kingdom Foundation Programme Office

RCOphth Essay Prize for Foundation Doctors (Second Prize) • Royal College of Ophthalmologists

DIAMOND Challenge 2nd Prize • The Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Society

2023

Cunning Prize in Medicine • Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Dorothy Knott Prize • University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

CAT Prize • University of Cambridge Department of Paediatrics

2022

Elective Report Prize • University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

2021

John Fry Prize • Royal Society of Medicine

Paediatric Innovation Prize • Royal College of Ophthalmologists

2020

Sowton Scholarship & Title of Scholar • Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

2019

Sowton Scholarship • Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Grants

2025

Academic Clinical Fellowship • National Institute for Health and Care Research

2024

Young Innovator Grant • Asia-Pacific Tele-Ophthalmology Society & Asia-Pacific Ocular Imaging Society

HealthSense Research Fund • HealthSense

2023

Academic Foundation Programme Grant • Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School

INSPIRE Bursary • University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

2022

Binks Trust Award • Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh

Gordon Bursary • Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge

Lord Mayor 800th Anniversary Award • City of London Corporation

BMDST-RSM Student Elective Award • Royal Society of Medicine

Elective Bursary • Royal College of Physicians

Desmond Hawkins Award • University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

2019

Travel Award • Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge

Top Publications

Talks, Panels, and Outreach

Upcoming

8 July 2025, Oxford Ophthalmological Congress (Oxford): Semi-automated identification of blind glaucoma patients that are unregistered for a certificate of visual impairment

2 June 2025, Medicine 2025 (London): Semi-automated identification of blind glaucoma patients that are unregistered for a certificate of visual impairment

20 May 2025, Royal College of Ophthalmologists Annual Congress (Liverpool): Identifying blind glaucoma patients with a semi-automated algorithm: a cross-sectional survey revealing missed certification of visual impairment

8 May 2025, National Surgical Teaching Society (online): Academic Clinical Fellowship applications and ophthalmology

2 May 2025, Royal College of Psychiatrists (Exeter): The potential and perils of generative artificial intelligence in mental healthcare

Recent

4 March 2025, Encode (Oxford): AI For Science Salon

3 March 2025, Osler House Medical Student Society (Oxford): Specialised Foundation Programmes

1 February 2025, Cambridge University Ophthalmology Society (online): Setting up to succeeed in ophthalmology

15 December 2024, APTOS-APOIS 2024 (Hong Kong): Translating Language and Vision Models into Clinical Applications

10 December 2024, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (Westminster): Large language models in medicine

An enormous thanks to all of the colleagues, collaborators, and mentors that make my work possible!