About
Dr Joshua Foreman
Honorary Research Fellow
Dr Joshua Foreman’s research focuses on the management of myopia, retinal biomarkers of ophthalmic and neurodegenerative diseases, diabetic retinopathy screening, and the epidemiology of vision impairment and major eye diseases.
Dr Joshua Foreman
Honorary Research Fellow
BBNSc, BSc (Hons), PhD
Dr Joshua Foreman is a Research Fellow at the Department of Ophthalmology, Melbourne Medical School at the University of Melbourne, an Honorary Research Fellow at CERA, a Visiting Scholar at New York University and an Affiliate Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.
He obtained a Bachelor of Behavioural Neuroscience at Monash University and a Bachelor of Science (Hons) at the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.
Following that, he obtained his PhD in Ophthalmic Epidemiology at the University of Melbourne and CERA, in which he worked on Australia’s first National Eye Health Survey (NEHS) to determine the prevalence and major causes of vision impairment and blindness in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian adults.
He authored 30 publications based on this work and was awarded the University of Melbourne Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD Thesis.
Dr Foreman’s current interests include:
- Management and prevention of myopia and smart device screen addiction
- Hyperspectral imaging to detect retinal biomarkers of disease
- Eye health education and awareness
- Community-based participatory research with an emphasis on blindness prevention in low-income settings
- Improving screening rates for diabetic retinopathy
- The epidemiology of vision impairment and major eye diseases
- Surveys on health-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices
Key research questions
- Assess the relationship between digital device use and the onset, progression, and severity of myopia among children
- Investigate the effectiveness of technological solutions, health promotion, and education for reducing digital device use, managing myopia, and improving uptake to eye health services
- Investigate the use of digital phenotyping for predicting the onset and progression of myopia
- Investigate the use of hyperspectral imaging for the detection of biomarkers of retinal and neurodegenerative diseases
- Evaluate the impact of KeepSight, a national reminder system that is integrated within optometry services, on screening rates for diabetic retinopathy among Australians with diabetes
- Develop, implement and evaluate culturally and linguistically appropriate diabetic retinopathy screening and referral programs to prevent blindness among Latino communities in the United States
Current projects
Selected publications
Key collaborators
Funding and support
Current projects
- Collaborating with industry to develop and evaluate technological solutions and educational material for the management of myopia and excessive smart device use among children worldwide (Singapore)
- Hyperspectral imaging to identify novel retinal biomarkers of ophthalmic and neurological diseases (Australia)
- KeepSight national diabetic retinopathy screening program (Australia)
- Bi-national consulate-based diabetic retinopathy screening and referral protocol for blindness prevention among Mexican migrants with diabetes in the United States (USA)
- National Eye Health Survey (Australia)
- Nationwide longitudinal survey on knowledge, attitudes and practices to COVID-19 among adults in the United States (USA)
Selected publications
- The future burden of vision loss in Australia: projections from the National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Keel S, McGuiness M, Liew D, van Wigngaarden P, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2020 May 4. doi: 1111/ceo.13776. [Epub ahead of print]
- The Prevalence and Causes of Vision Loss in Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians: The National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Xie J, Keel S, van Wijngaarden P, Sandhu SS, Ang GS, Fan Gaskin J, Crowston J, Bourne R, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Ophthalmology. 2017 Dec;124(12):1743-1752. doi: 1016/j.ophtha.2017.06.001. Epub 2017 Jul 6.
- Adherence to diabetic eye examination guidelines in Australia: the National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Keel S, Dirani M. Med J Aust. 2018 Feb 5;208(2):97.
- Prevalence and Causes of Unilateral Vision Impairment and Unilateral Blindness in Australia: The National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Xie J, Keel S, Ang GS, Lee PY, Bourne R, Crowston JG, Taylor HR, Dirani M. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2018 Mar 1;136(3):240-248. doi: 1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.6457.
- Cataract surgery coverage rates for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians: the National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Xie J, Keel S, van Wijngaarden P, Crowston J, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Med J Aust. 2017 Sep 18;207(6):256-261
- Treatment coverage rates for refractive error in the National Eye Health survey. Foreman J, Xie J, Keel S, Taylor HR, Dirani M. PLoS One. 2017 Apr 13;12(4):e0175353. doi: 1371/journal.pone.0175353. eCollection 2017.
- Utilization of eye health-care services in Australia: the National Eye Health Survey. Foreman J, Xie J, Keel S, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2018 Apr;46(3):213-221. doi: 1111/ceo.13035. Epub 2017 Sep 6
- Recruitment and Testing Protocol in the National Eye Health Survey: A Population-Based Eye Study in Australia. Foreman J, Keel S, van Wijngaarden P, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 2017 Dec;24(6):353-363. doi: 1080/09286586.2017.1296166. Epub 2017 Mar 27.
- Sampling methodology and site selection in the National Eye Health Survey: an Australian population-based prevalence study. Foreman J, Keel S, Dunn R, van Wijngaarden P, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2017 May;45(4):336-347. doi: 1111/ceo.12892. Epub 2017 Jan 30.
- Prevalence and Causes of Visual Loss Among the Indigenous Peoples of the World: A Systematic Review. Foreman J, Keel S, van Wijngaarden P, Bourne RA, Wormald R, Crowston J, Taylor HR, Dirani M. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2018 May 1;136(5):567-580. doi: 1001/jamaophthalmol.2018.0597
- The Prevalence of Diabetic Retinopathy in Australian Adults with Self-Reported Diabetes: The National Eye Health Survey. Keel S, Xie J, Foreman J, van Wijngaarden P, Taylor HR, Dirani M. Ophthalmology. 2017 Jul;124(7):977-984. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2017.02.004. Epub 2017 Mar 15.
- Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Australia: The Australian National Eye Health Survey. Keel S, Xie J, Foreman J, van Wijngaarden P, Taylor HR, Dirani M. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2017 Nov 1;135(11):1242-1249. doi: 1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.4182.
See more publications
Key collaborators
- Associate Professor Peter van Wijngaarden, CERA and Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne: post-doctoral fellowship supervisor.
- Dr Xavier Hadoux, CERA
- Associate Professor Mohamed Dirani, Duke-NUS and Singapore Eye Research Institute
- Professor Xochitl Castaneda, Dr Marlon Maus and Dr Jorge Cuadros, University of California Berkeley
- Professor Ralph J. DiClemente, Chair of Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Global Public Health, New York University
Funding and support
Thank you to the following organisations for their support:
- National Health and Medical Research Council: Sidney Sax Overseas Public Health Early Career Fellowship, 2019-2023
- Peggy and Leslie Cranbourne Foundation, 2017
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