The Pioneering Role of Australian Vision Research in Preventing Blindness

Prof Hugh Taylor

In this video, Professor Hugh R. Taylor reflects on his career journey and how his passion for ophthalmology grew, eventually leading him to focus on groundbreaking research to prevent blindness. He highlights the significant strides made in eye health through microsurgery, laser treatments, and genetic research at Australian Vision Research (AVR). Professor Taylor emphasises the critical work done on cataract surgery, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, as well as AVR’s efforts to close the gap in Indigenous eye health. He underscores the importance of translating research into practical care to prevent unnecessary blindness both in Australia and globally.

Video Transcript

(What inspired you to choose ophthalmology?)

I got very interested in the nervous system and the brain and the control of what went on, and I wondered for a while if I might be a neurosurgeon. I had an uncle who was a neurosurgeon, but I figured out they spent all their time in the operating theatre and in the dark half the time, and their patients didn’t talk to them afterwards. Ophthalmology, on the other hand, was a really exciting development with the development of microsurgery and the first group to be using lasers to restore sight to the blind was almost biblical.

And I had a family connection with my grandfather, who had been an ophthalmologist, and I spent some time as a medical student one summer working with Jerry Crock… and I just fell in love with ophthalmology.

(How has Australian Vision Research contributed to ophthalmology?)

It’s really supported ophthalmic research that has happened in Australia, and it’s made a huge difference to the work across the whole field of ophthalmology. From my perspective, one of the things that was really important was the early work we did on Indigenous eye health and trying to close the gap for vision. But they’ve also done fabulous work on genetic research, on macular degeneration, on improving cataract surgery, on the treatment of glaucoma—so a wide range of people researching all across the country. And Australia is one of the leading eye research countries in the world.

(What ophthalmology advancement or innovation excites you the most?) 

In many ways, we’ve solved what we needed to do with cataract and cataract surgery, and that used to be the major problem.

We have major problems still with macular degeneration and glaucoma, and there is terrific research that’s going on to find better ways to treat the earliest stages and to monitor those at high risk in both those diseases. And I think that is going to make a major turnaround to the amount of unnecessary blindness in our country and around the world.

(What future research should Australian Vision Research support and how will it impact ophthalmology?)

I think there are two ways of looking at it. On the one hand, the research that is being done on genetics and introducing new genes or safer genes into people so they don’t go blind is very, very exciting and important.

But exactly at the opposite end of that, we also need to make sure that what we know is being put into practice. So we need to be able to educate the community, educate primary care practitioners, so that the new advances and developments are actually reaching the community and the other health providers.

(Why should donors support Ophthalmic Research?) 

At the moment, some 85% of blindness and vision loss is unnecessary—it’s preventable or treatable. So we need to do the research so that we can make sure that we prevent or treat those conditions in the most effective way and to make sure people who need care are able to
receive it.