Professor Antti Vannas

Sydney, 15 December 2006: Today the Institute for Eye Research (IER) and Vision CRC mourn the passing of a great visionary and internationally recognised Ophthalmologist. In Helsinki last night, Professor Antti Vannas, friend, colleague and collaborator for more than 30 years, died after a battle with cancer.

Professor Holden from IER, speaking on behalf of Professor Deborah Sweeney and the staff of the IER, Vision CRC and associated organisations, said the world had lost a wonderful person and contributor. “This is a terrible loss - our thoughts are with the Vannas family and all those around the world who loved this remarkable man. We will continue to celebrate his life and our long association with him through the Vannas Foundation”.

“His expertise and knowledge contributed greatly to our work. For all who had the great privilege to work with him, his energy and incredible spirit will continue to inspire. Up until the day he died, Antti enjoyed the stories and exploits of his friends with great humour,” he said.

As one of the world’s most experienced corneal surgeons, Antti’s research included myopia, refractive correction, corneal physiology and development of new vision correction methods. Having followed his father and mother into ophthalmology he developed a network of research collaborations in Finland, Australia, USA and India. Antti played a key role in advancing corneal and refractive surgery, corneal implantation and the understanding of ocular inflammation.

Speaking at the recent Vannas Fellowship Awards ceremony, Professor Holden was emotional about his colleague; “Antti loved life, loved to contribute, teach and chase knowledge…Antti’s work has been extraordinary - his contribution has been quite unique. There is no one who’s worked with him that has not enjoyed the experience. He has inspired an enormous number of people to continue towards better and permanent solutions to myopia and to make vision accessible throughout the world.”

The Vannas Fellowship, established in 2006 to celebrate and honour the contributions of Antti Vannas to science and research, recognises his capacity to stimulate others and seek better ways of working to improve sight for all people.

Antti worked on the development of a new method of vision correction – the implantable contact lens or corneal inlay/onlay. The first winner of the Fellowship, Jukka Moilanen from the Helsinki University Eye Hospital, will take up his Fellowship in 2007 at the Vision Cooperative Research Centre in Sydney, working on a corneal inlay/onlay project and other surgical projects.