Recent Grant Achievement Highlights
The Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences (DOVS) is delighted to share a series of recent grant achievements that highlight the strength of our interdisciplinary research community.
Portable Eye Assessment Platform Secures MDHS Large Equipment Grant
A multidisciplinary team led by Dr Pei Ying Lee and co-led by A/Prof Christine Nguyen has been awarded an MDHS Large Equipment Grant for the development of an integrated portable eye assessment platform. This innovative equipment will support and enhance cross-disciplinary research across the fields of vision and neuroscience.
The successful team includes researchers from various faculties and institutions:
Pei Ying Lee, Christine Nguyen, Alexis Ceecee Britten-Jones, Bao Nguyen, Lauren Ayton, Amanda Douglass, Bang Bui, Andrew Anderson, Tissa Wijeratne (MMS), Andrew Evans (MMS), Steven Collins (MMS), David Finkelstein (Florey), Laura Ellett (Florey), Kevin Barnham (Florey), Carla Abbott (Ophthalmology), and Julian Simmons (Psychological Sciences).
Advancing Retinal Therapeutics with Surgical Microscope Funding
In the same grant scheme, Dr Livia Carvalho and her team successfully secured funding for a surgical microscope, a crucial asset to further develop research programs in retinal therapeutics, including gene therapy.
The team includes Rick Liu, Sena Gocuk, Chi Luu, Sagar, Erica Fletcher, Andrew Jobling, and Luis Alarcon-Martinez. The equipment will be pivotal in enabling cutting-edge investigations into treatment pathways for retinal diseases.
Supporting Emerging Researchers in Neuro-ophthalmology
Jingjing Lin, a second-year PhD candidate supervised by A/Prof Christine Nguyen, has been awarded the Parkinson’s Foundation Visiting Scholar Award. This recognition will support her in expanding her research on eye biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease beyond Victoria, with a clinical research extension to Tasmania under the mentorship of Professor Jane Alty.
Her supervisory team, including Christine Nguyen, David Finkelstein, Jane Alty, Andrew Anderson, Pei Ying Lee, Tissa Wijeratne, and Bang Bui, celebrates this achievement and the opportunity it presents to enhance the translational impact of her research.
Empowering Graduate Researchers Through STEM Engagement
Another exciting success comes from second-year PhD candidate Yaash Richards and her supervisor, A/Prof Christine Nguyen, who were part of a successful application for the Graduate Researcher Development Grant.
Their project, “Deadly Science Immersion: Graduate Researchers connecting, inspiring and supporting STEM stars of the future”, aims to strengthen graduate researchers’ communication skills while engaging with high school students from underrepresented communities, including First Nations communities through immersive experiences in allied health and nursing.
The interdisciplinary team includes Calulo Rivera Z, Parry S, Hunter E, Ronghe R, Taylor S, White E, Large S, Nguyen CT, Fini N, Richards Y, and Whish-Wilson G.
Congratulations to all involved for their outstanding achievements!