Fundraising Objectives

The Centre for Eye Research Australia is currently raising monies for:

10th Anniversary Equipment Fund

The Foundation has established an equipment fund to mark the 10th Anniversary of the Centre for Eye Research Australia. Gifts from this campaign will be used to purchase the latest diagnostic technologies including an Optical Coherence Topography (OCT), which will allow the researchers to see a section of the retina in the living eye.

Portable Retinal Camera

The Centre's Population Health Divisoin is working on the development of a portable retinal camera to take digital photographs of the retina at the back of the eye. The camera is being specifically designed for use in communities that are not easily accessible, such as Aboriginal communities in the north of Australia, developing countries or in the tsunami-ravaged countries in Southeast Asia.

It will be used to detect people with early stages of diabetic eye disease, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, three of the eye diseases that cause most of the world's rapidly growing incidence of vision impairment. Early diagnosis of these conditions can delay or prevent loss of vision.

The inventor of this camera was a finalist in The ABC's The New Inventors 2005 program.

Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre

Did you know that the retina provides the only window to the human circulation system? The team at the Centre for Eye Research Australia's Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre (RetVIC), under the leadership of Associate Professor Tien Wong, have demonstrated that retinal vascular changes can predict the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, dementia, kidney and other vascular conditions years before their development and independent of current diagnostic methods.

The newly-established Centre will provide Australia with a world-leading capability in the diagnostic analysis of retinal images for early prediction of these diseases. Its scientists will coordinate and conduct clinical trials and community screening studies. For the community, RetVIC's work means earlier identification of disease resulting in more targeted and effective intervention which will ultimately translate into a significant reduction in disability, morbidity and mortality. It will also realise substantial savings to the public health care budget.

Age-related Macular Degeneration

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of blindness in our community. It is a progressive disease, occurring in adults over the age of 50 years and at present there is no prevention and no cure. Treatment options are limited in their ability to slow progression of the illness and avoid severe visual impairment.

At the Centre's Macular Research Unit, discovering the risks, causes and treatment of AMD is a priority. Led by Associate Professor Robyn Guymer, its team of scientists is working to define the indicators of risk of AMD. They have developed a suite of tests designed to identify patients at high risk of vision loss, providing better information about early macular disease.

The team also works closely with the Centre's Ocular Genetics Unit to investigate the genetic basis of AMD and has established a study of twins in an effort to increase understanding about the inheritability of AMD.

Crock Fellowship

The purpose of the Crock Fellowship is to fund outstanding young ophthalmologists to work academically in the Department and the Centre for Eye Research Australia and thus provide new opportunities for young ophthalmologists who have completed their training overseas and wish to continue their academic interests in Australia.

The Fellowship will be awarded for the first time in 2007. For further information about this Fellowship, and how to contribute to the Gerard Crock Fellowship Fund, please contact the Foundation on +61 3 9929 8705.