The Critical Role of AVR in Advancing Ophthalmic Care and Innovation

Professor Mark Radford

Professor Mark Radford, Executive Director of the Queensland Eye Institute, discusses his unique background in psychiatry and the connections between the eye, brain, and mood regulation. He highlights Australian Vision Research’s (AVR) crucial contributions to ophthalmology, including raising awareness, funding early-stage research, and fostering collaboration between clinicians and researchers. He emphasises AVR’s role in nurturing young researchers and its support of cutting-edge projects, such as early detection of Alzheimer’s through retinal imaging, the impact of sunlight on mental health, and the growing importance of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic care. Radford underscores the importance of donor support, stressing that investing in vision research not only saves sight but also has a lasting impact through legacy bequests.

Video Transcript

My name is Mark. I’m the executive director of the Queensland Eye Institute in Brisbane, Queensland.

(What inspired you to choose ophthalmology?)

Actually, my original training was in psychiatry, but I’ve always been interested in the relationship between the eye and the brain, especially the role the eye and the optic nerve may have in triggering neurochemicals in the brain and therefore our mood and behaviour.

(How has Australian Vision Research contributed to ophthalmology?)

AVR has made numerous contributions to the field of ophthalmology.

Probably the three for me that are the most important are: first, raising awareness of the importance of ophthalmic research within the specialty, but then secondly, providing funding for initial research ideas that can lead to grant applications, especially larger applications from bodies such as NHMRC.  And thirdly, I think that AVR has made a contribution by giving younger researchers a chance to conduct research themselves. All three have played an important role in our field.

(What excites you about the future of ophthalmic research?)

For me, there is a lot of exciting work currently happening in ophthalmology. First of all, I think the advances of imaging for retina and its relationship to the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia is very exciting and very important.  

Secondly, I think the new work that is looking at the role of sunlight, photoreceptors, and affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are shedding a whole new understanding on the relationship between what we see, what we experience through our eyes, and what we feel.

Third, and for me, an important one is the increasing interest in the role of registries, and the use of registries to better understand diseases, diagnosis, management, and treatment.

Finally, the new area of artificial intelligence (AI), and the role of AI in both clinical care and research, is going to be very, very important.

The advantages of AI, but also the challenges and concerns, need a lot of thought, but I believe will make a huge difference to ophthalmic research.

(Whay lies ahead in terms of ophthalmic research?)

While not directly a research initiative, I think AVR has a very important role in encouraging collaborations, especially collaborations that involve trainees, students, and young clinicians in the research project of generating interest in ophthalmic research, and also trying to generate more collaborations between clinicians and non-clinical researchers.

(What sets Australian Vision Research apart?)

I think you’re right, and I think this is what AVR is very good at. AVR is helping to spread the word and getting people to ask questions and to think about why we’re doing research. And once you start thinking about why we’re doing it and then start to understand what potential outcomes that that’s when real difference starts and where each of us makes a difference.

And I think getting people to talk about it is a first step and probably one of the most important steps in the process.

(Why should donors support ophthalmic research?)

Supporting vision research means saving sight. Pure and simple. With about 80% of blindness being preventable or treatable, an investment in research has a significant and real return. As a donor, you are making a real difference.  You are an important part of a team that is saving sight.

(Why considering leaving a bequest matters?)

Leaving a bequest means leaving a legacy.

The best people who can support ophthalmic research are those who understand what this means—clinicians, researchers, as well as those suffering from eye diseases. As a researcher, as a clinician, we are particularly attuned to what a difference the work we do makes.  When we get involved with the leaving a bequest, we’re getting involved with helping further the work that we have started and sharing with a broader community why we did that work, why it’s important, and why it needs to continue.