Senator Carr Sees The Future

It didn’t take an astrologer or crystal ball to see the future of vision science for Senator Kim Carr during a tour of the Vision Cooperative Research Centre (Vision CRC) at the Institute for Eye Research in Sydney this week.

The tour with CEO of Vision CRC, Professor Debbie Sweeney, and some of Australia’s leading vision science researchers and educators gave Senator Carr a glimpse of the eye care of the future and what drives the need for research.

“We are becoming increasingly dependent upon our eyes in all aspects of our lives 1.6 billion people are affected by myopia (short sightedness) alone in the world today - a number that is rising dramatically, particularly in Asia, and expected to be 2.5 billion by 2020”, said Professor Sweeney.

“The Senator took a close-up look and showed great interest in our work on slowing or preventing the development of myopia with contact lenses and spectacles, by Institute for Eye Research scientists and colleagues at the University of Houston”, she added.

“We’re at a critical point in development of Australia’s leadership in collaborative science in vision. Our interest in new technology, partnerships, collaboration and development of projects to impact eye care globally is growing with our success. Ultimately, what we do here is the embryonic stage of better vision for the world”, she said.

With partners and collaborators like the Institute for Eye Research, International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE), the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) in Melbourne, LV Prasad Eye Institute in India, WHO and universities around the world, Vision CRC is arguably one of the most successful CRCs in Australia.

“It’s critical to the vision health of the future that our research into new methods to diagnose and treat eye conditions associated with ageing such as macular degeneration, as well as diabetic eye disease and glaucoma, among others, continues to develop. We’ve found that through major collaboration with the best researchers and partners worldwide, success is achievable”, Professor Sweeney said.

Whilst touring the facilities Senator Carr had the opportunity to meet Professor Brian Layland, Chair of the Institute for Eye Research Board and head of Aboriginal Programmes for ICEE. Professor Layland, who received the “Award for Excellence in Health Service Delivery by a Non-Aboriginal Person”, from the NSW Department of Health in 2006, has been responsible for setting up more than 80 clinics for Aboriginal eye care in NSW alone and is proud to see the ICEE programme moving forward in the Northern Territory.

“The Vision CRC has supported the ICEE Aboriginal programme for some time now”, said Professor Layland.

“It’s a remarkable thing that they not only provide great scientific discovery in vision science, they are also committed, through their partners, to provide better eye care models, training and education to improve eye care services for those in need. It’s a holistic approach to delivering value to the community”.

“It was wonderful to see the Senator take such an interest in our future”, he said.