Dr Leo Sheck

MBChB, MD(Auckland), MBA(Cambridge), FRANZCO

210706.Retina.Specialists-04667.jpg

Dr Sheck was born in Hong Kong and came to New Zealand with his family for secondary schooling. Despite the demand of adjusting to a new country, he excelled in Auckland Grammar School and was admitted to Medical School in the University of Auckland. He was the top student in his year in paediatrics and one of the top candidates in undergraduate ophthalmology. Following graduation, he completed a Doctor of Medicine degree by research under the supervision of Associate Professor Andrea Vincent on ocular genetics, and clinical ophthalmology training in Auckland and Hamilton. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmology in 2017.

After completing his ophthalmology training, he followed the footstep of his mentor Dr Dianne Sharp to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London for a two year fellowship in medical retina. He had the privilege of working under Prof Alan Bird (whom described him as ‘an asset to any department’) among many prominent ophthalmologists in the field. He also advanced his expertise in ocular genetics under Prof Andrew Webster and Prof Michel Michaelides, and in uveitis under Dr Carlos Pavesio. Despite the demand of fellowship training in London, he managed to complete a Masters of Business Administration in the prestigious University of Cambridge concurrently.

He currently works as a Medical Retina specialist at Retina Specialists in Parnell and at the Eye Department at Greenlane Clinical Centre. Like Dr Sharp, he has worked with the most current and effective medical therapies for wet macular degeneration and other retinal disorders. He has taken over as the lead clinician of the Ophthalmic Electrodiagnostic unit in Greenlane Clinical Centre which provides a diagnostic service for acquired and inherited retinal disorders.

Outside of medical retina expertise, Dr Sheck has a passion in the pursuit of excellence in cataract surgery. He chooses Oasis Surgical Centre for his cataract surgery as it provides state of the art facilities. Unlike many other surgeons in Auckland, he uses a special phaco-chop technique which minimises the energy required to break down a cataract for superior outcome.

Dr Sheck is a co-author of a number of scientific publications, which can be found on this link.

Dr Sheck supports Macular Degeneration New Zealand (MDNZ) and is on the medical advisory board of the charity. Macular degeneration is the major cause of vision loss in the over 50 age group, affecting 1 in 7 over the age of 50 and causing some degree of vision loss to 1 in 4 people over the age of 80 in New Zealand. MDNZ is a charitable trust with the aim to reduce the incidence and impact of macula degeneration in New Zealand.

Dr Sheck is the chairman of the New Zealand Save Sight Society, which is a major funder of New Zealand ophthalmic research.

Dr Sheck’s areas of special expertise include:

  • Age related macular degeneration assessment and treatment.

  • Diabetic eye disease screening and management.

  • Management of retinal vascular disorders.

  • Inherited retinal diseases assessment and counselling.

  • Monitoring of retinal drug toxicity.

  • Digital retinal photography and angiography.

  • Cross-sectional retinal imaging with Ocular Coherence Tomography (OCT).

  • Electrodiagnostic testing.

  • State of the art cataract surgery.

Further information about Dr Sheck can be found on his website.