On June 5, Mor Dickman delivered his inaugural lecture, Mor(e) than Meets the Eye, as Professor of Ophthalmology at UMC Utrecht. In his lecture, he showed how ophthalmology is evolving. Beyond surgery, treatments that target the underlying causes of disease are becoming increasingly important. He also called on healthcare professionals to take greater responsibility for shaping the healthcare system of the future.
“Vision is our most important sense and is estimated to provide around 80 percent of all the information we process,” says Dickman. “For many people, vision loss is one of the most feared health problems because of its profound impact on independence, identity, and quality of life.”
Utrecht has long played a leading role in ophthalmology. Scientists Frans Cornelis Donders and Herman Snellen were pioneers in the field, combining scientific research and entrepreneurship with a strong sense of social responsibility. Proceeds from the famous Snellen eye chart, for example, were used to fund eye surgeries for people with limited financial means. “That principle remains just as important today,” Dickman emphasizes.
At the same time, the focus of scientific research is shifting from replacing damaged eye tissue to regenerative medicine: supporting the eye’s natural ability to repair itself. Recently, physicians at UMC Utrecht treated a patient with Holoclar, Europe’s first approved stem cell therapy.
The next step is the development of organoids: miniature organs grown from stem cells. In the future, these may even serve as alternatives to transplantation. “That is urgently needed,” says Dickman. “Worldwide, there is only one donor cornea available for approximately seventy patients who require a corneal transplant.”
Gene therapy is also playing a key role in this development. Dickman’s research group successfully corrected a genetic defect in stem cells from patients with Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy.
According to Dickman, gene therapy offers the possibility of treating diseases at an early stage, before severe damage occurs. At the same time, he warns that Europe risks falling behind in this field. “The Netherlands has the knowledge, creativity, and capital. What we need now is the political courage and administrative leadership to bring these strengths together.”
The future of ophthalmology extends far beyond the eye itself. The emerging field of oculomics explores what eye images can reveal about the health of the rest of the body. “With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), we may be able to detect conditions such as cardiovascular disease and dementia at a very early stage,” Dickman explains. “In some cases, years before the first symptoms appear.”
Research on the retina is also creating new opportunities to monitor the health of children with brain tumors. In uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease in which approximately ten percent of patients are children, AI combined with molecular data may enable faster diagnoses and more personalized treatments.
However, new technologies are only valuable if they lead to better outcomes for patients. That is why Dickman advocates for value-based healthcare, where success is measured not by the number of procedures performed or technologies used, but by the outcomes that matter most to patients. To improve care, he argues that treatment outcomes must be systematically recorded and compared. “Transparency is not an end in itself, but a means to improve healthcare.”
He also points to broader changes within the healthcare system. Increasingly, planned and routine care is being delivered in specialized clinics, leaving academic medical centers with a growing share of complex and less profitable treatments. “To keep healthcare accessible and affordable, we need appropriate reimbursement models, clear strategic choices, socially responsible entrepreneurship, and greater insight into quality,” Dickman explains. “This is a conversation that university medical centers and healthcare organizations must have together.”
At the end of his inaugural lecture, Dickman reflected on the life of Marie du Saar, Europe’s first university-trained female ophthalmologist. In 1889, she became the first woman to graduate cum laude from the University of Amsterdam, yet social norms of her time limited her opportunities to build a professional career.
“Her story reminds us that equal opportunities cannot be taken for granted,” Dickman emphasizes. Today, around seventy percent of ophthalmology residents are women, yet only one-third of professors are female. The disparity is even greater among scientists with a non-European background: they represent 27 percent of PhD candidates but only 3.6 percent of professors.
“Exclusion is rarely the result of bad intentions. More often, it stems from blind spots and a lack of diversity,” says Dickman. This conviction also formed the closing message of his inaugural lecture: “Today, I proudly wear the Utrecht academic gown as part of a UMC Utrecht where everyone can be themselves and contribute, through their own talents, to the healthcare of tomorrow.”
