Dr Frank Howes

 Dr Frank Howes is a well renowned ophthalmic surgeon who specialises in cataract and refractive surgery, and corneal diseases such as keratoconus. He is highly regarded in many laser eye procedures including LASIK, PRK (ASLA), SMILE, ICL and refractive lens exchange (sometimes known as clear lens exchange or lensectomy). Dr Howes is also one of the leading surgeons in the surgical treatments for glaucoma. 

Dr Howes completed undergraduate medicine in Cape Town in South Africa, and after some time in general practice and in military medicine in the SA Defence Force, completed his Ophthalmic training at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. During this time Dr Howes was awarded his SA Springbok colours for representing South Africa in Rowing (coxless four). He went on thereafter to a Glaucoma fellowship in Toronto Canada and Refractive fellowships in the USA and UK where he spent 10 years working with Professor Emanuel Rosen, Cataract Refractive and Corneal Surgeon in Manchester UK. Together with Prof Rosen, he initiated the first LASIK and Refractive Clinics in the UK. At the same time he was appointed Director of Ophthalmology services in the Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust, allied to the University of Leeds in Yorkshire. He performed the first SLT procedures in the UK an produced the first text on SLT from this position. He moved to Australia in 2005 and has been in practice in Brisbane and the Gold Coast since. 

Dr Howes has been lecturing medical and optometry students at QUT and Bond University where he holds an associate Professorship. He still continues with his work with lasers, including his interests in assisting with Nd:YAG laser design to facilitate lysis of vitreous floaters and membranes. Dr Howes has also continued his interests in the forefront of Glaucoma surgery having been the first surgeon in Australia to insert the iStent Inject as part of his interests in the MIGS procedures (Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery). He has also designed and had intraocular lenses made and named after him (FH1000 – Lenstec Inc., the first foldable sulcus fixed foldable acrylic IOL for use in acapsular aphakes) and has been involved in the research of other new intraocular lenses and drugs. Dr Howes also has an interest in phakic IOL’s and was amongst the first in Australasia to insert the ICL for the correction of high refractive error. With respect to his drug interests, he contributed to the research and commercialisation of the combination glaucoma drug Simbrinza. He has a strong interest in academic medicine which prompted him to become a reviewer of a number of ophthalmic journals and to write the 15 chapters on cataract surgery over the 6 editions of the Yanoff and Duker text book of Ophthalmology.