Dr. Muhammad Ali Memon MBBS, FRCOphth, CertLRS
About Muhammad Ali Memon
Dr. Muhammad Ali Memon is Chief Medical Officer at Complement Therapeutics, a position he has held since January 2025. He continues to work as a Refractive Surgeon at Optical Express on a part-time basis since May 2021. He previously served as Vice President and Head of Clinical Science and Safety at AAVantgarde Bio from December 2022 to January 2025, and as Clinical Program Director and Retinal Diseases and Clinical Trial Design Consultant at Novai from December 2021 to December 2023. He held an Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist role and subsequently Honorary Ophthalmologist role at Moorfields Eye Hospital from July 2021 to July 2025. At IAG, Image Analysis Group, he serves as Ophthalmology Expert and Scientific Advisor. He also holds a Senior Medical Advisor role at Eye2Gene. He was most recently active as a facilitator for the MSc course in Ophthalmology at University College London and as a reviewer of the Moorfields laser training course.
Dr. Memon’s clinical and research focus encompasses medical retina, uveitis, inherited retinal diseases, gene therapy, and the application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology. His areas of therapeutic interest include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy, inherited retinal diseases, gene therapy, and AI-based approaches to retinal disease. He has specialist expertise in cataract surgery, refractive surgery, and complex uveitis, developed through his fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital and his consultant roles at King’s College Hospital.
His research methodology background spans Phase I to IV commercially sponsored clinical trials in ophthalmology, acquired at Moorfields Eye Hospital (Medical Retina and Clinical Trials Fellowship, 2019 to 2021), Harvard University/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (Research Fellowship in Vision Science and Visual Psychophysics, 2007 to 2008), and Imperial College London (graduate student and research, 2008 to 2010). His industry roles at AAVantgarde Bio and Novai have provided additional depth in gene therapy and ocular clinical program design. He has co-authored publications and has presented work at national and international audiences.
Dr. Memon has extensive clinical trials experience from Phase I to IV in positions of responsibility at multiple institutions including Harvard University/Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Moorfields Eye Hospital, and Imperial College London. His Clinical Fellow in Medical Retina and Clinical Trials role at Moorfields Eye Hospital (August 2019 to March 2021) involved developing expertise in commercially sponsored clinical trials in ophthalmology, including in complex uveitis, medical retina, and genetic diseases. His role as Clinical Program Director at Novai (December 2021 to December 2022) and subsequent role as VP Head of Clinical Science and Safety at AAVantgarde Bio (December 2022 to January 2025) covered clinical program design in gene therapy for retinal diseases. He is currently CMO at Complement Therapeutics, overseeing clinical development. Named trials confirmed from supplied sources include: the Opti-GAIN Phase I/II study (NCT07392255, Complement Therapeutics), a subretinal gene therapy trial of CTx001 for Geographic Atrophy secondary to dry age-related macular degeneration, for which Dr. Memon serves as Chief Medical Officer and key clinical designer. Opti-GAIN (NCT07392255) is a Phase I/II multicenter study evaluating CTx001, an investigational AAV2-based gene therapy delivering mini-CR1 (a potent modulator of multiple complement pathways) via single subretinal injection in 75 participants with GA secondary to AMD, with safety and efficacy assessed over 2 years and annual long-term follow-up to 5 years.
It is among the first GA studies to prospectively evaluate ellipsoid zone (EZ) integrity and focal OCT-based microperimetry as co-primary structural and functional endpoints. The first patient was dosed in March 2026; Cohort 1 has completed enrolment and the IDMC has recommended proceeding to dose escalation (May 2026). The companion Pre-GAIN study (NCT07144137) is an ongoing non-interventional natural history study characterizing structural and functional measures of GA progression to support patient selection and endpoint development for Opti-GAIN. Dr. Memon has also contributed to the BRIDGE Initiative (Building Research Innovations and Developing Global Endpoints), a multicenter international consensus workstream establishing standardized clinical endpoints for atrophic macular diseases, published in Eye (London, DOI: 10.1038/s41433-025-03832-z | PMID: 40595335). His prior roles at AAVantgarde Bio and Novai covered clinical program design in gene therapy for retinal diseases across Phase I–IV studies.
Dr. Memon is a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth, 2017) and holds the Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He has co-authored a number of publications and has presented his work at national and international audiences. He holds advisory roles as Senior Medical Advisor at Eye2Gene and Ophthalmology Expert at IAG, Image Analysis Group.
Dr. Memon obtained his MBBS from Aga Khan University in 2004. He then completed a Research Fellowship in Vision Science and Visual Psychophysics at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, from April 2007 to June 2008. He subsequently undertook graduate studies at Imperial College London from 2008 to 2010. He completed his Specialty Registrar training in Ophthalmology through the South West Peninsula Deanery from August 2011 to August 2019, and obtained his FRCOphth from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in 2017. He completed a Medical Retina and Clinical Trials Fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital from August 2019 to March 2021. He holds the Certificate in Laser Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.