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Building the world’s first truly global medical foundation model

Nature Medicine (2025)Cite this article

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Since 2022, the field of medical artificial intelligence (AI) has begun a shift toward foundation models, machine learning systems that are trained on broad data at scale and are adaptable to a wide range of downstream tasks1,2. Medical foundation models are rapidly evolving, driven by the synergy of expanding medical data repositories, advances in neural network architecture (especially transformers), self-supervised learning approaches and computing power. Medical foundation models are capable of performing, or can be adapted to perform, a range of medical tasks with a minimal amount of annotated data. To date, several promising breakthroughs with foundation models have been demonstrated across diverse medical domains, including pathology, radiology and ophthalmology3,4,5.

Nevertheless, training robust medical foundation models requires large, diverse and clinically useful representative data6. Assembling such datasets remains a major challenge for the research community because of strict data-sharing regulations intended to protect patient privacy and ensure ethical compliance. For these reasons, most existing foundational models are trained on datasets that are geographically and demographically ‘narrow’ (that is, not globally representative), limiting their generalizability and effectiveness, particularly in under-represented regions and populations6,7,8.

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Fig. 1: Two-pronged data contribution framework.

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Acknowledgements

Y.C.T. is supported by the National Medical Research Council of Singapore (NMRC/MOH/ HCSAINV21nov-0001). C.Y.C. is supported by the Research Grants Council Hong Kong (General Research Fund, ref.14101324). P.A.K. is supported by a UK Research & Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/T019050/1), the Moorfields Eye Charity with The Rubin Foundation Charitable Trust (GR001753), and an Alcon Research Institute Senior Investigator Award. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) based at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.

Author information

Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yih Chung Tham, Jocelyn Hui Lin Goh, Paul Nderitu, Yukun Zhou, An Ran Ran.

  2. These authors jointly supervised this work: Carol Y. Cheung, Pearse A. Keane.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yih Chung Tham, Jocelyn Hui Lin Goh, Sahana Srinivasan & Ke Zou

  2. Centre for Innovation and Precision Eye Health, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Yih Chung Tham, Jocelyn Hui Lin Goh, Sahana Srinivasan, Ke Zou, David Ziyou Chen, Ching-Yu Cheng, Victor Teck Chang Koh, Marcus Chun Jin Tan & Samantha Min Er Yew

  3. Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore, Singapore

    Yih Chung Tham, Jocelyn Hui Lin Goh, Gabriel Dawei Yang, Ching-Yu Cheng, Kai Xiong Cheong, Preeti Gupta, Haslina Hamzah, Jost B. Jonas, Ecosse Lamoureux, Thaddaeus Wai Soon Lo, Dan Milea, Charumathi Sabanayagam, Seang-Mei Saw, Gavin Tan & Tien Yin Wong

  4. Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (Eye ACP), Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore

    Yih Chung Tham, Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang, Ecosse Lamoureux, Charumathi Sabanayagam, Seang-Mei Saw & Marcus Chun Jin Tan

  5. NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Paul Nderitu, Yukun Zhou, Gatera Fiston Kitema, Pearse A. Keane, Alastair K. Denniston, Sobha Sivaprasad & Siegfried K. Wagner

  6. Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK

    Paul Nderitu, Yukun Zhou, Gatera Fiston Kitema, Polly Rawlinson, Pearse A. Keane, Matthew J. Burton, Sobha Sivaprasad & Siegfried K. Wagner

  7. Hawkes Institute, University College London, London, UK

    Yukun Zhou

  8. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    An Ran Ran, Gabriel Dawei Yang, Hongyang Jiang, Carol Y. Cheung, Qinghua He, Ruyue Shen, Simon K. H. Szeto, Clement C. Tham, Bowen Xu & Jason C. Yam

  9. Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya

    Hatem M. Abdelakher & Alain N. M’Bongo Zindamoyen

  10. Department of Ophthalmology, Federal Teaching Hospital Owerri, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

    Eberechukwu Achigbu

  11. Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria

    Eberechukwu Achigbu

  12. Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK

    Referano Agustiawan, Damara Andalia, Charles R. Cleland, Preeti Gupta, Hagar Khalid & Jens Julian Storp

  13. JEC Eye Hospitals and Clinics, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Referano Agustiawan & Damara Andalia

  14. Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

    Islam Sh Ahmed

  15. Ophthalmology Department, Jordanian Royal Medical Services, Amman, Jordan

    Shehab Ahmad Al-Abed & Sura Yousef Alaroud

  16. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Minhaj Nur Alam

  17. Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Abdulrahman F. Albloushi & Faisal Alkathery

  18. Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology, Kigali, Rwanda

    Tsedeke Asaminew Alemu & Wanjiku Mathenge

  19. Presbyterian Eye Clinic Acha, Douala, Cameroon

    Nchifor Alice & Awum Joyce Ncheda

  20. Yumbe Regional Referral Hospital, Aringa, Uganda

    Otim Ambrose

  21. Eye Unit, Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana

    Kwesi N. Amissah-Arthur

  22. Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Fares Antaki

  23. Department of Ophthalmology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

    Fares Antaki & Renaud Duval

  24. Ophthalmology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon Bourgogne, Dijon, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France

    Louis Arnould & Catherine Creuzot-Garcher

  25. Department of Ophthalmology, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda

    Simon Arunga & Teddy Kwaga

  26. International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Simon Arunga, Covadonga Bascaran, Matthew J. Burton & Charles R. Cleland

  27. Rachel Eye Center, Garki, Abuja, Nigeria

    Olufemi Emmanuel Babalola

  28. Department of Surgery, Bingham University, Karu, Nigeria

    Olufemi Emmanuel Babalola

  29. Department of Ophthalmology, Medical Academy, Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Vilma Jurate Balciuniene

  30. Institute of Cardiology, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

    Vilma Jurate Balciuniene

  31. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Lausanne, Fondation Asile des Aveugles, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Ciara Bergin, Mattia Tomasoni & Javier Zarranz-Ventura

  32. Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Carolina Bernal-Morales

  33. August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute, IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain

    Carolina Bernal-Morales & Javier Zarranz-Ventura

  34. Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Ansgar Beuse & Carsten Grohmann

  35. Ufa Eye Research Institute, Bashkir State Medical University, Ufa, Russian Federation

    Mukharram M. Bikbov & Gyulli M. Kazakbaeva

  36. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Chiba University, Chib, Japan

    Guzel M. Bikbova

  37. Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Iryna Blagun & Oksana Vitovska

  38. Deutsche Augenklinik, Kyiv, Ukraine

    Iryna Blagun, Iva Bulat & Oksana Vitovska

  39. University Eye Department, Sveti Duh University Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia

    Damir Bosnar

  40. Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health Osijeck and Faculty of Medicine Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Osijek, Croatia

    Damir Bosnar & Iva Bulat

  41. Vision & Eye Research Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

    Rupert Bourne

  42. Centre of Translational Medicine, King’s Health Partners, London, UK

    Tasanee Braithwaite

  43. Eye and Vision Sciences, University of Liverpool Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

    Philip Burgess, Savita Madhusudhan & Yalin Zheng

  44. St Paul’s Eye Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

    Philip Burgess & Savita Madhusudhan

  45. Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Avshalom Caspi & Terrie E. Moffitt

  46. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Avshalom Caspi

  47. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology and Molecular Diagnostics, The First Dongguan Affiliated Hospital, School of Medical Technology, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang, China

    Ling-Ping Cen

  48. Department of Ophthalmology, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Frimley, UK

    Manju Chandran

  49. Byers Eye Institute at Stanford, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Robert T. Chang, Theodore Leng & Sophia Y. Wang

  50. Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

    Kao-Jung Chang

  51. Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Kao-Jung Chang

  52. McMaster University, Ontario, Canada

    Varun Chaudhary

  53. Department of Ophthalmology, National University Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

    David Ziyou Chen, Victor Teck Chang Koh & Marcus Chun Jin Tan

  54. Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shantou, China

    Haoyu Chen, Kunliang Qiu & Mingzhi Zhang

  55. Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Xi Chen

  56. School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    Xinjian Chen

  57. Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Xuejing Chen & Manju L. Subramanian

  58. Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Xuejing Chen & Manju L. Subramanian

  59. Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Youxin Chen

  60. Department of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Qingyu Chen

  61. Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Emily Y. Chew

  62. Department of Ophthalmology, The Hadassah Medical Center and the Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Itay Chowers & Jaime Levy

  63. Colegio Medico Departmental de La Paz, La Paz, Bolivia

    Nestor Chirinos

  64. Department of Ophthalmology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

    Maria Vittoria Cicinelli & Giuseppe Querques

  65. School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy

    Maria Vittoria Cicinelli & Giuseppe Querques

  66. French Myopia Institute, Adolphe de Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France

    Aude Couturier

  67. Vietnam National Eye Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Dang Tran Dat & Pham Ngoc Dong

  68. Wisconsin Reading Center, Dept of Opthalmology and Visual Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Amitha Domalpally

  69. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Luciano V. Del Priore

  70. College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Alastair K. Denniston & Xiaoxuan Liu

  71. Department of ORL Head and Neck Surgery and Audiology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Sebastian Dinesen

  72. Division of Population Health and Genomics, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK

    Alexander S. F. Doney

  73. Watany Eye Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

    Rania Estawro & Alaa E. Fayed

  74. Münster University Hospital, Münster, Germany

    Nicole Eter & Jens Julian Storp

  75. Department of Ophthalmology, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria

    Nnamdi N. D. Ezuma, Nnamdi Nd-Ezuma & Adaora Chinwendu Okudo

  76. Department of Ophthalmology, Kasr Al-Ainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

    Alaa E. Fayed

  77. Instituto Oftalmológico Fernández-Vega, Oviedo, Spain

    Álvaro Fernández-Vega González & Maximiliano Olivera

  78. Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain

    Álvaro Fernández-Vega González

  79. D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Daniel Ferraz

  80. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital, Port Harcourt, Nigeria

    Bassey Fiebai

  81. Clínica Visión, Rancagua, Chile

    Juan Pablo Figueroa Vercellino

  82. The University of Ghana Medical School, College of Health Sciences, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

    Mohammed-Sherrif Napari Fuseini

  83. Ophthalmology Department, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Orly Gal-Or & Alon Tiosano

  84. Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Orly Gal-Or, Alon Tiosano & Dinah Zur

  85. Shantilal Shanghavi Cornea Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Telangana, India

    Prashant Garg

  86. AIM for Health Lab, the Faculty of IT, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Zongyuan Ge & Lie Ju

  87. Airdoc-Monash Research, the Faculty of IT, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Zongyuan Ge & Lie Ju

  88. The Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Nicola Ghazi

  89. Department of Ophthalmology, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Nicola Ghazi

  90. University Teaching Hospital, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda

    Egide Gisagara

  91. Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Jakob Grauslund

  92. Department of Ophthalmology and Steno Diabetes Center Odense, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Jakob Grauslund

  93. University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland

    Andrzej Grzybowski

  94. Foundation for Ophthalmology Development, Poznan, Poland

    Andrzej Grzybowski

  95. St. Thomas Eye Hospital, Accra, Ghana

    Michael Ekuoba Gyasi

  96. Department of Applied Artificial Intelligence, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea

    Jinyoung Han

  97. Ophthalmology Department, University of Sierra Leone Teaching Hospital Complex - Connaught, Freetown, Sierra Leone

    Lloyd C. M. Harrison-Williams & Alice Cecilia Elsie Taylor

  98. Koç University, School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Murat Hasanreisoglu

  99. Eye Foundation Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria

    Adekunle Hassan & Ogugua Okonkwo

  100. Eye Foundation Retina Institute, Lagos, Nigeria

    Adekunle Hassan & Ogugua Okonkwo

  101. School of Optometry, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Mingguang He & Danli Shi

  102. Department of Clinical Research, Shanghai Eye Diseases Prevention and Treatment Center, Shanghai Eye Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

    Xiangui He

  103. National Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Xiangui He

  104. Magrabi ICO Cameroon Eye Institute, Yaounde, Cameroon

    Colette Gaelle Helles & Henry Ebong Nkumbe

  105. Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Wenyi Hu, Zhichao Wu & Zhuoting Zhu

  106. Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Wenyi Hu, Zhichao Wu & Zhuoting Zhu

  107. Department of Ophthalmology, Hangil Eye Hospital, Incheon, South Korea

    Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

  108. Lux Mind, Incheon, South Korea

    Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

  109. Park Eye Center & PCEA Kikuyu Eye Unit, Nairobi, Kenya

    Shafiq Jafferji

  110. Bogota Laser Eye Center, Bogotá, Colombia

    Daniel Jaramillo & Camilo A. Jaramillo

  111. Eye Center, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Kai Jin, Peifang Xu & Juan Ye

  112. Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Eye Diseases, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Institute on Eye Diseases, Hangzhou, China

    Kai Jin, Peifang Xu & Juan Ye

  113. Rothschild Foundation Hospital, Paris, France

    Jost B. Jonas, Dan Milea, Mehdi Ounissi & Songhomitra Panda-Jonas

  114. Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Rahul Jonas

  115. Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Craig Jones & T. Y. Alvin Liu

  116. University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Nelly Kabedi Ngoy

  117. UM Eye Research Centre, Department of Ophthalmology, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Tengku Ain Kamalden

  118. Department of Social Medicine (Public Health), Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan

    Ryo Kawasaki

  119. Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Hagar Khalid & Magdy Moussa

  120. Amanat Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

    Hina Khan

  121. Allen Foster Community Eye Health Research Centre, Gullapalli Pratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye care, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India

    Rohit C. Khanna

  122. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India

    Rohit C. Khanna

  123. Birat Eye Hospital, Biratnagar, Nepal

    Anadi Khatri

  124. Gautam Buddha Eye Care Centre, Ramgram, Nepal

    Anadi Khatri

  125. Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Young Kook Kim & Ki Ho Park

  126. Department of Ophthalmology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea

    Young Kook Kim & Ki Ho Park

  127. Department of Ophthalmology, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

    Caroline C. W. Klaver

  128. Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Anthony Kuo

  129. Help Me See, Jersey City, NJ, USA

    Van Charles Lansingh

  130. Department of Public Health Sciences, Voluntary, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Van Charles Lansingh

  131. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Aaron Y. Lee & Cecilia S. Lee

  132. Department of Ophthalmology, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Christopher K. S. Leung

  133. Department of Ophthalmology, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China

    Christopher K. S. Leung

  134. National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China

    Yuanbo Liang

  135. Centre for Vision Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

    Gerald Liew & Paul Mitchell

  136. Department of Clinical Ophthalmology and Eye Health, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Gerald Liew & Paul Mitchell

  137. State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Centre for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China

    Duoru Lin & Haotian Lin

  138. Hainan Eye Hospital and Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre, Sun Yat-sen University, Haikou, China

    Haotian Lin

  139. Ophthalmology Department, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Anat Loewenstein

  140. Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Xiangya Hospital affiliated to Central South University, Changsha, China

    Jing Luo

  141. Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Fernando Malerbi & Caio Regatieri

  142. Zarifa Aliyeva National Ophthalmology Center, Baku, Azerbaijan

    Lala Mammadova

  143. Spero Hospital, Baku, Azerbaijan

    Lala Mammadova

  144. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Simeon Mayala & Deogratias Mzurikwao

  145. Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), Coimbra, Portugal

    Luis Mendes & Rufino Silva

  146. Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Créteil, Paris Est Creteil University, Créteil, France

    Alexandra Miere & Eric Souied

  147. Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Terrie E. Moffitt

  148. Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon (UANL), Monterrey, Mexico

    Jibran Mohamed-Noriega

  149. Ophthalmology Department, University Hospitals Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Susan Mollan

  150. Metabolism and Systems Science, School of Medical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Susan Mollan

  151. Augenarzt-Praxisgemeinschaft Gutblick, Pfäffion, Switzerland

    Marion R. Munk

  152. Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Marion R. Munk

  153. MitØje, Danske Speciallæger, Aarhus, Denmark

    Danson Vasanthan Muttuvelu & Yousif Subhi

  154. Eye and Laser Center, Bujumbura, Burundi

    Rodrigue Mwami & Jean Claude Niyonzima

  155. Clinique Vi-Zion MD, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Annick Mwilambwe

  156. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand

    Onnisa Nanegrungsunk & Direk Patikulsila

  157. Suraj Eye Institute, Nagpur, India

    Vinay Nangia

  158. Anant Bajaj Retina Institute, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India

    Ritesh Narula

  159. Binh Dinh Eye Hospital, Binh Dinh, Vietnam

    Thanh Triet Nguyen & Truong X. Nguyen

  160. Aide Vision ASBl, Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

    Jason Pithuwa Nirwoth

  161. Faculty of Medicine and Biomedicals Sciences, Garoua University, Garoua, Cameroon

    Josiane Mare Njoya

  162. Rwanda Charity Eye Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda

    Piet Noe

  163. Ophthalmology Unit, Department of Surgery, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria

    Adaora Chinwendu Okudo

  164. Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Maximiliano Olivera

  165. Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Songhomitra Panda-Jonas

  166. Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Andreas Pollreisz

  167. Guangdong Provincial Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Engineering Technology Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Shantou, China

    Kunliang Qiu

  168. Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai, India

    Rajiv Raman & Chetan Rao

  169. UF College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL, USA

    Rajiv Raman

  170. Department of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Sandhya Ramrakha & Reremoana Theodore

  171. Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, San Martín de Porres, Peru

    Jose Roca

  172. Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Lima, Peru

    Jose Roca

  173. Fundacion Oftalmologica Nacional, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia

    Francisco J. Rodriguez

  174. College of Medicine, Rangsit University, Rajavithi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand

    Paisan Ruamviboonsuk

  175. Department of Ophthalmology, Stadtspital Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rui Santos & Gabor Mark Somfai

  176. Spross Research Institute, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rui Santos & Gabor Mark Somfai

  177. Ophthalmology Department, Hospital de Clinicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Mario J. Saravia

  178. Keio University, Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo, Japan

    Mariko Sasaki

  179. National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan

    Mariko Sasaki

  180. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

    Muhammad Bayu Sasongko & Felicia Widyaputri

  181. Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany

    Friederike Schaub

  182. Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Göteborg, Sweden

    Philipp Schwember

  183. Ophthalmology Department, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Rufino Silva

  184. Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Su Jeong Song

  185. Biomedical Institute for Convergence (BICS), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea

    Su Jeong Song

  186. Research Group of Ophthalmology, Department of Neurosciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ingeborg Stalmans & Jan Van Eijgen

  187. Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospitals UZ Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Ingeborg Stalmans & Jan Van Eijgen

  188. Department of Vision Science, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

    Niall Strang

  189. Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Yousif Subhi

  190. Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai, China

    Xiaodong Sun

  191. Department of Technology and Design Thinking for Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Hitoshi Tabushi

  192. Department of Ophthalmology, Tsukazaki Hospital, Himeji, Japan

    Hitoshi Tabushi

  193. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Toru Takebayashi

  194. King’s Ophthalmology Research Unit, Section of Ophthalmology, King’s College London, London, UK

    Leona Takeuchi

  195. Cameroon-National School of Specialized Nursing, Optometry and Midwifery, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Francis Victorie Tanga Doumbe

  196. Diabetes Research Group, Swansea University Medical School, Swansea, UK

    Rebecca L. Thomas

  197. Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Arun Thirunavakurasu

  198. Platform for Research in Ocular Imaging, Fondation Asile des Aveugles, Jules Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Mattia Tomasoni

  199. Ophthalmica Eye Institute, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Paris Tranos

  200. Kabgayi Eye Unit, Gitarama, Rwanda

    Theophile Tuyisabe

  201. Retina Department, Asociacion para Evitar la Ceguera en Mexico IAP, Mexico City, Mexico

    Raul Velez-Montoya

  202. University Eye Clinic, San Giuseppe Hospital, IRCCS MultiMedica, Milano, Italy

    Stela Vujosevic

  203. Henan Academy of Innovations in Medical Science, Zhengzhou, China

    Ningli Wang

  204. Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Ningli Wang

  205. Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China

    Xiaofei Wang

  206. Beijing Visual Science and Translational Eye Research Institute (BERI), Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Ya Xing Wang

  207. Department of Ophthalmology, Singleton Hospital, Swansea, UK

    Gwyn S. Williams

  208. Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Graham Wilson

  209. School of Clinical Medicine, Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

    Tien Yin Wong

  210. Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Wei-Chi Wu

  211. Department of Ophthalmology, LinKou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan

    Wei-Chi Wu

  212. Eye Center of Huizhou Central People’s Hospital, Huizhou, China

    Guihua Xu

  213. Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

    Jie Xu

  214. Yokohama City University, Kanagawa, Japan

    Yasuo Yanagi

  215. Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Fabian Yii

  216. Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

    Honghua Yu & Xiayin Zhang

  217. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China

    Ling Yuan

  218. Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology, Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Shiley Eye Institute, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Linda Zangwill

  219. Department of Ophthalmology and Research Laboratory of Macular Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Meixia Zhang

  220. Guangdong Provincial Precision Diagnosis and Treatment Engineering Technology Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Guangzhou, China

    Mingzhi Zhang

  221. Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Yalin Zheng

  222. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Afiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China

    Hua Zhong

  223. Department of Ophthalmology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Xiangjia Zhu

  224. State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Xiangjia Zhu

  225. Ophthalmology Division, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Dinah Zur

Authors
  1. Yih Chung Tham
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  2. Jocelyn Hui Lin Goh
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  3. Paul Nderitu
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  4. Yukun Zhou
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  5. An Ran Ran
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  6. Sahana Srinivasan
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  7. Gabriel Dawei Yang
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  8. Gatera Fiston Kitema
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  9. Polly Rawlinson
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  10. Hongyang Jiang
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  11. Ke Zou
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  12. Carol Y. Cheung
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  13. Pearse A. Keane
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yih Chung Tham, Carol Y. Cheung or Pearse A. Keane.

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Competing interests

C.Y.C. is a cofounder and shareholder of a company (i-Cognitio Sciences) that commercializes retinal imaging based algorithms for brain health assessment. P.A.K. is a cofounder of Cascader, has acted as a consultant for Retina Consultants of America, Roche, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Bitfount and is an equity owner in Big Picture Medical. He has received speaker fees from Zeiss, Thea, Apllis and Roche and travel support from Bayer and Roche. He has attended advisory boards for Topcon, Bayer, Boehringer-Ingelheim and Roche.

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Tham, Y.C., Goh, J.H.L., Nderitu, P. et al. Building the world’s first truly global medical foundation model. Nat Med (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-03859-5

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