Celebrating ophthalmic excellence

May 1, 2024 Lesley Springall

After a few tough years, marred by Covid-19, the Christchurch earthquakes and personal loss, the University of Auckland’s Department of Ophthalmology and School of Optometry and Vision Research joined forces to celebrate a new year and some outstanding young achievers in Auckland’s ophthalmic world.

 

Professor Charles McGhee, the long-standing Maurice Paykel chair and head of ophthalmology, welcomed attendees to the annual Excellence in Ophthalmology and Vision Research awards. This evening was about celebrating the younger people in ophthalmology and research today, he said, before introducing Dr Jie Zhang, a senior lecturer and research fellow whose work focuses on corneal regeneration and anterior segment reconstruction.

 

Dr Natalie Allen - William MacKenzie Medal

 

 

Recognising early excellence in eye research, Dr Zhang presented the William MacKenzie Medal to Dr Natalie Allen, a Health Research Council clinical research fellow and a PhD candidate, who’s supervised by Prof McGhee and Dr Zhang (see related story, p34).

 

Dr Bia Kim – Arthur Thomas Paterson Scholarship and NZ National Eye Bank: Jane McGhee Corneal Transplantation Scholarship

 

 

Anterior segment fellow and honorary senior lecturer Dr Bia Kim was awarded the Arthur Thomas Paterson Scholarship Award and the newly created New Zealand National Eye Bank: Jane McGhee Corneal Transplantation Scholarship, in honour of Jane McGhee, a senior research technician and lab manager who died unexpectedly last year. Fondly described as the department ‘mum’, Jane McGhee was an accomplished researcher who oversaw the establishment of human ocular stem-cell expansion techniques and patient reimplantation, saving the sight of many people in Aotearoa. Both awards were designed to assist ophthalmology fellows with post-graduate studies overseas.

 

Presenting the Arthur Thomas Paterson award, anterior segment specialist Dr Mo Ziaei called Dr Kim “a rising star” who couldn’t attend the evening’s celebrations as she was already studying abroad at Kim’s Eye Hospital in South Korea, her first placement before heading to Moorfields in the UK and Kanazawa University Hospital in Japan.

 

Fellow corneal specialist Dr James McKelvie said it was a real honour to be asked to present the “very special” Jane McGhee $20,000 travel award, which was established after some very generous donations following her death. After graduating from Otago, Dr Kim spent two and a half years as a corneal research fellow at Auckland University, completing a Doctor of Medicine thesis that led to the development of the New Zealand Cataract Risk Stratification System before undertaking a senior corneal fellowship in Auckland.

 

“Bia is currently pursuing six months of advanced international training at a number of different centres looking at corneal transplantation, cellular research and also anterior segment tumours and corneal diseases,” said Dr McKelvie. “We are excited to see what she will bring back.”

 

Prof McGhee then provided an overview of the Department of Ophthalmology and the New Zealand National Eye Centre’s annual activities, highlighting the increasing number of research teams and fellowships and acknowledging the support of the many sponsors who make this possible. He also discussed the benefits of pursuing a PhD, especially if you are a training ophthalmologist, before introducing Dr Yuting Xiao who presented an overview of her PhD research into adult stem cells in the eye and their therapeutic application in ocular regeneration.

 

Dr Emily Meyer – Calvin Ring Undergraduate Prize

 

 

The third main award winner of the evening was Dr Emily Meyer, daughter of well-known glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmology specialist Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer. Dr Meyer was awarded the Calvin Ring Undergraduate Award by David Ring and his father Dr Peter Ring, who established the award in his father’s name to recognise the best all round undergraduate medical student in clinical ophthalmology. Dr Meyer said she was privileged to have received the award and honoured by the association with Dr Calvin Ring, who was not only very involved in teaching ophthalmology but was also instrumental in driving funding for the establishment of the Maurice Paykel Foundation chair of ophthalmology. Dr Meyer added she was also particularly excited to have won, “one of the few awards that eluded my mum!”

 

Also recognised for their achievements were the recipients of the 2023 Summer Studentships, presented by Associate Professor Stuti Misra, an optometrist-scientist and senior lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology:

 

 

• Emma Akeroyd

Precision medicine - interpretation of enhancer mutations driving cancer onset, progression and treatment

 

• Anna Casey

Covid19 vaccination and corneal graft rejection

 

• David Choi

Screening for keratoconus to prevent vision loss

 

• Jordan Cooper

Investigating the impact of castor oil on Demodex

 

• Rebekah Kenny

Investigating novel eye tracking technology for concussion and other health assessments

 

• Mystie Jacobson

Exploring dry eye prevalence and risk factors in Māori

 

• Fiona Li

Prospective study investigating the feasibility of octopus visual fields in children with optic nerve and neurological disease

 

• Ella Mitchell

Clinical and genetic characteristics of familial exudative vitreoretinopathy

 

• Niruthmie Pallawalla

Exploring the effect of Aß on retinal endothelial cells

 

• Bethany Torr

Exploring the therapeutic potential of UVC

 

• Peace Yin

Peak/off-peak allergy seasons and the ocular surface