From Professor Hugh R Taylor AC

I vividly remember my first day in 1990 at the Melbourne University Department of Ophthalmology. I sat in a huge office with five staff and thought, “What am I going to do?”

In addition to helping to train ophthalmologists, I wanted to build research capacity, support people through their masters and PhD programs, and secure funding through grants and philanthropy to improve eye care and stop vision loss.

After working within the university system for a few years, in 1996 I looked around at all the successful research organisations in Melbourne.

I believed that establishing an independent medical research institute focused on vision science would make my goal possible.

Thus, we created CERA.

Through the University of Melbourne, government support, collaborations with The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the Lions Clubs of Victoria, the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind and the Association for the Blind — later to unite as Vision Australia — and the contributions of many generous philanthropic supporters, CERA was able to bring great people together to accelerate research.

After only a decade, I was amazed to see CERA listed among the top four eye research institutes in the world.

This remarkable achievement is thanks to everyone who came together in such an extraordinary and wonderful way.

CERA’s success has always been built on collaboration between people committed to advancing research. We did extensive outreach to optometry, ophthalmology and other institutes to bring people together and build collective strength from individual expertise.

CERA Deputy Director Professor Robyn Guymer AM was one of our early recruits and has been doing terrific work from the beginning. In addition to her many accomplishments in age-related macular degeneration, her work with colleagues including Laureate Professor Colin Masters to detect dementia and Alzheimer’s disease through retinal photography was truly forward-thinking.

Former CERA Managing Director Professor Tien Wong also made major contributions, particularly through collaborations investigating signs of cardiovascular disease in eye images — work that predated current approaches by 20 years.

Of course, there is the amazing work on glaucoma started by former Managing Director Professor Jonathan Crowston and continued and expanded by his successor Professor Keith Martin.

Also, the work on corneal transplantation through Dr Graeme Pollock OAM’s leadership in the Lions Eye Donation Service, with the laboratory and clinical work of Professor Mark Daniell.

Some of CERA’s greatest achievements have been translating research findings into real improvements in health care and public awareness. This includes adding sunglasses to SunSmart campaigns, ensuring cigarette packets carry warnings about eye disease and promoting the importance of regular eye exams for people with diabetes.

I hope CERA continues to be one of the world’s leading eye research institutes and provides strong leadership, particularly across the Asia–Pacific region.

It has been a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for its entire existence, and I hope it continues to share its expertise on a global scale.
Eyecare today is completely different from what it was 30 years ago, and 30 years from now it will be different again. At CERA today, gene therapy and artificial intelligence research are transforming how we protect people’s vision.

I hope CERA continues to stay at the cutting edge, inspiring and supporting young people with new ideas and supporting their research that leads to real, positive changes in people’s sight and their lives.

Professor Hugh R Taylor AC

This story was originally published in Creating the future in sight: Annual Review 2025.