Yousif Subhi1-3, Jin Ye Yeo4
1Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup, Glostrup, Denmark; 2University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 3University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; 4AES Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. AES Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: aes@amegroups.com.
This interview can be cited as: Subhi Y, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of AES: Dr. Yousif Subhi. Ann Eye Sci. 2025. Available from: https://aes.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-aes-dr-yousif-subhi.
Expert introduction
Dr. Yousif Subhi (Figure 1), consultant and associate professor, is an award-winning ophthalmologist and medical retina specialist from Denmark. He obtained his BSc, MD and PhD degrees at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, several book chapters, and has given several invited lectures. He has received numerous awards, including the prestigious EURETINA Ophthalmologica Award in 2024. Using his broad expertise in clinical, translational, and educational research, his current research focus is evidence synthesis and evidence-based medicine in chorioretinal diseases.
Dr. Subhi is member of the Danish Ophthalmological Society, EURETINA (European Society of Retina Specialists), and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). He previously served as a board member of the Young Retinal Specialists (YOURS) of EURETINA and as a president of FAYO, the world’s oldest young ophthalmologist association. He is currently associate editor of American Journal of Ophthalmology International and European Journal of Ophthalmology, and serves as Section Lead of Retina in Ophthalmology and Therapy. He is also editorial board member of several journals in ophthalmology, including Acta Ophthalmologica and Annals of Eye Science.
Figure 1 Dr. Yousif Subhi
Interview
AES: Could you share what inspired you to pursue a career in ophthalmology, specifically in chorioretinal diseases?
Dr. Subhi: Originally, my plan was to study software engineering, but I eventually decided to go to medical school. Throughout medical school, I wanted to combine medicine with my interest in computers, machines, and data. One day, my friend Xiao from the medical school asked me to help him with his research project on the retinas of medical students. For me, that was when I realized that with ophthalmology, I could combine computers, machines, and data with medicine. I was lucky to get into retina research, and I met a lot of good people—kind and hardworking people—and I wanted to be just like them.
AES: You have been involved in evidence synthesis and evidence-based medicine in ophthalmology. Can you explain the significance of evidence synthesis in the field, and how it can influence clinical practice?
Dr. Subhi: A lot of clinical research is being done, which is good. Evidence synthesis helps implement the good intentions from the clinical studies into a summary of evidence and what to do next, what to implement, and how. When done right, evidence synthesis can transform and guide the clinical practice.
AES: You argue that it should be patient first in clinical research. Could you enlighten what that means?
Dr. Subhi: Early in my career, my mom developed cancer, and I followed her throughout consultations in the hospital. She had so many questions—received so few answers. By learning from that experience, I argue that we should focus on research questions that matters the most to the patients because that also matters for our clinical practice and organization of our services.
AES: As senior researcher and supervisor of young retinal researchers in Denmark, how have you seen the field evolve in terms of training and mentorship, and what do you recommend for the next generation of ophthalmologists and researchers?
Dr. Subhi: We stand on the shoulders of giants before us, who improved research quality and training into the excellent quality that we are proud of today. There are so many things in our training program and traditions (PhD courses, symposia, organization, structure, financing, etc.), which I take for granted but are ultimately only there because of the work of those before me. So, from my perspective, a lot of good initiatives and facilities are already in place. I recommend my students to use these facilities, but also focus on getting out to conferences, and present, network, and acknowledge that we are part of a larger community. Do not compete but collaborate; it makes everything better. I also notice that some of our colleagues write 3-4 papers and finish their academics as young colleagues, and then years later, as senior clinicians, experience that it can be difficult to publish because writing a scientific paper in English as a non-Native speaker remains a difficult task. Therefore, I push my students and young researchers to deal with that aspect early on, to challenge themselves, write as much as possible, and “solve” the difficulty of writing so that writing papers stops being a difficult task. As a non-native English speaker, I think that is an important topic to deal with early on.
AES: What has been the most rewarding part of your career so far, and how has it influenced your perspective on your research?
Dr. Subhi: Working with evidence synthesis and clinical practice research really highlights the importance of good organization and leadership. I have been privileged to work under good leaders in my field, just to mention a few, Prof. Morten la Cour, A/Prof. Javad N. Hajari, and Prof. Jakob Grauslund. My own perspective on clinical research has been influenced by them. My take on clinical research is what I call strategic research—we aim to study and analyze topics with potential for implementation and transformation of clinical practice.
AES: Looking ahead, how do you hope to continue impacting the field of ophthalmology research?
Dr. Subhi: With AI-based services knocking on the door, we need implementation research and clinical practice research more than ever before. I think we are looking at exciting times ahead, and I hope to contribute to that development.
AES: How has your experience been as an Editorial Board Member of AES?
Dr. Subhi: Excellent! I think more people should consider AES for their papers. This is a journal that will have an impact on our clinical practice.
AES: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your aspirations for AES?
Dr. Subhi: I hope that we can keep doing the good work in the journal. There are a lot of good research papers, but also papers on education and organization. That diversity is one of the strengths of our journal, which I hope can continue. In doing so, we may become even more popular in future.