In vision research, the journey from laboratory discovery to patient care can be long and complex. The Vision Science Innovation Alliance (VSIA) was established to address this challenge by supporting vision science from idea to impact.

Working across four focus areas – collaborative research, translation and scale up of new technologies, partnerships with government and community leaders to support policy and health equity, and talent and training – the alliance connects expertise across the research and care pipeline.

VSIA links organisations with complementary strengths to reduce fragmentation, coordinate work and help research progress into clinical testing and patient care.

The alliance draws on vision science expertise within Melbourne’s biomedical precinct, spanning discovery research, clinical insight, trials infrastructure, training and care.

These partners include CERA, Cerulea Clinical Trials, the University of Melbourne, The Australian College of Optometry / National Vision Research Institute and affiliate partner The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.

More than 13 million Australians live with one or more chronic eye conditions, and over 500,000 experience vision impairment or blindness. While most vision loss is preventable or treatable, many people remain undiagnosed or without access to appropriate care.

VSIA works to remove barriers between research, clinical practice and trials by supporting coordination across research, trials and care.

Professor Keith Martin, Managing Director of CERA and Head of the University of Melbourne Department of Ophthalmology, chairs the alliance’s steering committee.

“Vision research doesn’t move forward in a single step,” Professor Martin says.

“We have a concentration of vision science expertise within the biomedical precinct, covering discovery research, clinical care and trials.

“Bringing that capability together through the alliance makes it easier to move research into real-world application.”

The alliance was launched in October 2025 at CERA’s Vision Expo by the Hon. Danny Pearson, MP, former Victorian Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs. The event brought together researchers, clinicians and people with vision loss.

“This alliance puts patients at the heart of everything we do,” says Professor Lauren Ayton AM, CERA Deputy Director and Associate Dean of Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

“By working across research and clinical care, and informed by lived experience, we can focus on challenges that matter most.”

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