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PHIL'S WEBSIGHT
Eyes, Inflammation, and all that Jazz
WELCOME TO MY WEBSIGHT
Congratulations! You’ve stumbled onto the website of Phil Murray ophthalmologist, semi-pro muso, saxophone aficionado, Dexter Gordon devotee, and a Brentford FC fan through every nail-biting season. If you’re here looking for someone to fix your uveitis, I have good news and bad news.
The bad news? I’m retired. I’ve hung up my ophthalmoscope for good, traded slit lamps for sax solos, and now only diagnose questionable solos in live recordings.
The good news? I’m still here to provide wisdom, wit, and the occasional sarcastic take on red eyes, blurred vision, macular oedema and how a proper baritone sax is still smoother than your average OCT scan.
Just a little bit about me (well, I'm not going to tell you everything!)
I am Emeritus Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham and until October 2022 I was Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Birmingham and Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist, Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, City Hospital, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust.
Born a cockney (within the sound of Bow Bells), but was brought up in West London. Educated at Latymer Upper School (click here for some notable Old Latymerians). Qualified in medicine from St. George's Hospital Medical School, London. Pursued a career in Ophthalmology with Registrar and Senior Registrar posts at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Spent one year on sabbatical in Amsterdam at the Department of Ophthalmo-Immunology, Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute. Senior Lecturer then very briefly Reader in Ophthalmology in Birmingham. Over many years have 'acquired' two daughters Hannah and Ella, a wife (Tricia), and a PhD but not necessarily in that order. Living in Moseley Village (a suburb of Birmingham, UK) and recently described by Muddy Stilettos as one of the best place to live in the West Midlands. Moseley has an award-winning Farmers' Market (in 2023 it won Best Farmers' Market in the UK for the 4th time!), the Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul Festival, the Moseley Folk Festival, plus Moseley in Bloom. Sometimes I can be found here.
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My saxophone hero is Dexter Gordon and I am a passionate supporter of my boyhood football team Brentford FC (nickname The Bees) - check out my blog about them.
What Am I Doing Now?
Retirement has allowed me to dedicate myself to life’s finer pursuits:
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Jazz: You’ll find me practising my parts for my Big Band gigs and being immersed in 'Go' by Dexter Gordon for the 37th time. His tone? Sublime. Your eyes? Hopefully, doing great and still being well looked after.
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Saxophones: I’m on team Baritone Sax now—bigger, bolder, and more soulful. Like your eye pressure, only cooler.
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Brentford FC: Watching The Bees play is great unless you’ve got untreated uveitis. Blurred vision is no excuse for missing a Bryan Mbeumo goal.
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Research & Teaching: Yes, I'm still carrying on until the medical students think I'm older than their grandfather.
RECENT NEWS
Read All About It
THE SOUL PROVIDERS
TSP wow them at Thimblemill Library 1st April 2023.
NEXT GIG: TBA
MY 'BABY' IS NOW 7 YEARS OLD!
What's that coming over the hill, is it a Boxster?
Yes, it’s a Boxster!
ACADEMIC UNIT OF OPHTHALMOLOGY (AUO)
The AUO is part of the Department of Inflammation and Ageing, School of Infection, Inflammation and Immunology, College of Medicine and Health of the University of Birmingham, UK. We also form part of the Neuroscience and Ophthalmology group.
Our group includes: myself, Si Rauz (Professor of Translational Ophthalmology), Alastair Denniston (Professor of Regulatory Science and Innovation), Graham Wallace (Non-clinical Associate Professor), Rob Barry (Associate Clinical Professor), Darren Ting (Birmingham Health Partners Clinician Scientist Fellow), Jose Romero Hombrebueno (Non-clinical Associate Professor), Liying Low (NIHR Clinical Lecturer), Gibran Butt (University Clinical Lecturer), Alberto Recchione (post-doctoral research Optometrist), Samuel Latham and Kusy Suleiman (NIHR Academic Clinical Fellows), David Stanley (Junior Research Fellow), PhD student Nada Alfahad (MBChB-PhD), other PhD students, Immunosuppression Nurse Practitioner Nat Poonit, Research Nurses and Research Data Co-ordinator, Secretaries - Charlotte Harris, Anna Beckett
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We are based on the 1st Floor of the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC) and our clinical activities take place in the Centre for Inflammatory Eye Disease on the site of City Hospital, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, and in the Research Laboratories of the Centre for Translational Inflammation Research at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham.
To see some of our publications please use PubMed and search on: murray pi, rauz s, denniston ak, wallace gr, barry rj, hombrebueno jr.
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WHAT IS UVEITIS?
Uveitis: The Moody Jazz of Eye Conditions
Uveitis is like free jazz—complex, inflammatory, and unpredictable. You didn’t ask for it, but suddenly it’s in your life, causing pain, redness, photophobia (light sensitivity, for those not fluent in ophthalmology speak), and vision so blurred you’ll mistake a soprano sax for a baritone.
If you ignore it (don’t), uveitis plays a long, unwelcome set that includes hits like:
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Cystoid Macular Oedema: the swelling that makes everything hazier than VAR decisions.
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Cataract: nothing says “jazz is timeless” like a lens so cloudy you can’t read the Brentford FC lineup.
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Glaucoma: silent, sneaky, and more pressure than a last-minute penalty.
The moral of the story? Take care of your eyes, or life will start to look like an out-of-focus Dexter Gordon album cover.
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Here are the Top 10 factoids about uveitis
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Uveitis is the third leading cause of blindness worldwide.
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Uveitis is a broad term that refers to inflammation of the uvea, which includes the iris, ciliary body, and choroid.
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Uveitis can be caused by a variety of factors, including infections, autoimmune diseases, trauma, and malignancy.
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Uveitis can affect people of all ages, but it is most commonly diagnosed in individuals between the ages of 20 and 60.
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Symptoms of uveitis include eye redness, pain, sensitivity to light, blurred vision, and floaters.
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Treatment for uveitis often involves the use of corticosteroids to reduce inflammation, as well as immunosuppressive agents in some cases.
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Chronic uveitis can lead to complications such as glaucoma, cataracts, macular oedema, and retinal detachment.
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Some types of uveitis are associated with other medical conditions, such as sarcoidosis, ankylosing spondylitis, and Behçet's disease.
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Uveitis can be difficult to diagnose, and a thorough evaluation often includes a detailed medical history, physical examination, laboratory tests, and imaging studies.
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Uveitis can recur, and long-term follow-up with an ophthalmologist is often necessary to monitor for disease activity and potential complications.
For more information on uveitis please check out:
Been a patient and want to give something back for the care you have received or would just like to support Ophthalmology in Birmingham? Then please donate through the charity the Roper-Hall Eye Foundation.
MUSIC
The bands I am in
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OUT OF THE BLUE BIG BAND
I play baritone sax in possibly the greatest jazz Big Band in the UK (lol) - OK, I exaggerate slightly! Our repertoire is drawn from the classic swing and Big Band arrangements of the Basie and Ellington era as well as latin, blues, soul, pop and even rock n’roll.
THE SOUL PROVIDERS
We are a 9-piece band re-creating the great soul hits of the 1960s. We play numbers made famous by the soul greats Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Irma Thomas, The Temptations, The Supremes as well as songs by the Blues Brothers, Georgie Fame, Tom Jones, Amy Winehouse and instrumental hits from Booker T & the MGs, The Mar-Keys and The Bar-Kays.
MY HORNS
A selection of tenors, altos and baritones
Trevor James Signature Custom RAW Tenor Sax (November 2023)
Selmer Mk VI alto sax - serial no: 232,xxx c1975
Conn 26M (Connqueror) VIII alto sax - serial no: 278,xxx c1937 (originally owned by Spike Robinson)
Conn Connqueror 26M alto with Spike Robinson's name engraved on the bell
Selmer MkVI tenor sax - serial no: 78,xxx c1959
Yanagisawa B901 low A baritone sax - serial no: 250,xxx c2002
Buescher Aristocrat low Bb baritone sax - serial no: 268,xxx c1934
Selmer MkVI low A baritone sax - serial no: 298,xxx c1979
Final Notes (in Bb/Eb)
So, if you’re struggling with uveitis symptoms—red, painful, photophobic eyes with blurred vision—I'm sure you are now under the care of a great ophthalmologist. I’m retired, remember? But if you want to chat about jazz, playing baritone sax in a Big Band and 60s Soul Band, Dexter Gordon’s Copenhagen recordings, or the joy and heartache of Brentford FC, I’m your person.
To everyone who let me look deep into their eyes (medically, of course)—thank you. Now, go book an appointment with someone younger, and put on some Dexter Gordon. Your vision may be blurred, but your musical taste doesn’t have to be.