Obituary: Joanne Ruth Marks

Jo Marks, optometrist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH) from 2004 to 2018, passed away peacefully in North Manchester’s Bury Hospice on December 26 2018, aged 48 years. Jo began her optometry journey in 1988 at the then UMIST Optometry Department. Given her outstanding academic abilities, it was not a great surprise when she graduated with a first in optometry in 1991.

After a short time in private practice, Jo became a research optometrist at UCL’s Institute of Ophthalmology between 1998 and 2004, assessing patients within a major RCT of glaucoma surgery run by Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw. During this time Jo undertook sessional work in both private practice and at Moorfields Eye Hospital. During this time she developed a specialist interest in glaucoma. She also undertook an MSc, culminating in a dissertation on the role of corneal thickness measurement in glaucoma.