Alan C. Bird, Chief Scientist for The MacTel Project, is a Professor and Consultant at the Institute of Ophthalmology at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, UK. Since joining Moorfields in 1969, Dr. Bird has held numerous positions. For the past several years, Dr. Bird’s his main area of interest is retina. Under his direction, The Medical Retinal Service now holds 24 clinics each week, and has 7 Consultants. A productive multidisciplinary research team developed for the investigation of monogenic retinal disorders and age-related macular disease. Investigative techniques included molecular genetics, electrophysiology, psychophysics, specialised imaging and morphology. Along with his colleagues, Dr. Bird as established research programs in inflammatory eye disease, and retinal vascular diseases. Dr. Bird has done extensive international work in Africa on river blindness and in Jamaica on retinal changes in sickle cell disease. Dr. Bird has received a number of awards in recognition of his work.