Shelley Kline, a patient of renowned ophthalmologist Professor Frank Billson AO for nearly four decades, has established a research scholarship in his honour at the Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) in Melbourne. The Professor Frank Billson Research Scholarship aims to advance paediatric eye care and preserve Professor Billson’s legacy in ophthalmology.
Diagnosed with uveitis at the age of eight, Ms Kline credits Prof Billson with providing lifechanging care throughout her journey. Uveitis, an inflammatory eye condition that can lead to vision loss, required Ms Kline to make frequent visits to see Prof Billson and other specialists throughout her life. When he moved from Melbourne to Sydney, establishing Save Sight Institute, she and her parents would regularly fly to Sydney for appointments.
“Professor Frank Billson has had such a profound impact on my life,” Ms Kline said. “He was a brilliant doctor; he always had such a good way of presenting the information and allowing me to make my own decisions with regards to my health. He was always compassionate, empathetic, and always gave me and my family so much of his time… he taught me one of the most invaluable lessons, which is never to allow my medical condition to define me,” she said.
Prof Billson’s career in ophthalmology spanned over 50 years, with a focus on neonatal and paediatric eye care. He served as the Head of Ophthalmology at the RCH for seven years in the 1960s, during which time the hospital gained international recognition for its expertise in paediatric ophthalmology.
HONOURING A LEGACY
The scholarship, through the RCH Foundation, supports clinicians from the RCH’s Ophthalmology Department to undertake vital work to improve outcomes for children with eye conditions. Highlighting its importance, Associate Professor James Elder, an RCH ophthalmologist, said it “will bolster research capacity and capability within the team, allowing a staff member protected and dedicated time to conduct research.”
As determined by an expert panel, the scholarship will support varied research projects, such as evaluating parents’ knowledge of childhood eye disease signs and investigating alternative methods to assess the ‘red reflex’ test used to screen for eye abnormalities.
Already, the scholarship has supported the work of paediatric orthoptist Dr Sandra Staffieri AO, as well as Dr Anu Mathew, Director of Ophthalmology at the RCH, and Cathy Lewis, Chief Orthoptist at the RCH, who are creating online education modules complete with assessments that will equip optometrists in the community to provide paediatric eye care and collaborative care with the RCH.
“This will allow us to build a network of eye care professionals in the community to ensure that more children have access to appropriate eye care,” Dr Anu said.
The program will be the first online education and collaborative care resource for community optometrists provided by a public children’s hospital in Victoria. It will also be designed to facilitate and support collaborative care for a wide range of paediatric eye conditions.
$500K AND GROWING
Ms Kline’s goal was to raise a minimum of AU$250,000 for research to commence, however, despite facing challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and competing charitable causes, she has raised over $500,000 to date.
Her efforts have included hosting a gathering of 100 women at her home, each donating $180 – a number significant in Jewish tradition.
“I’ve never done this before, and I had no idea how I was going to go,” Ms Kline said of her fundraising experience. “Because it was COVID, I couldn’t get out and see people or hold events, so I got the hospital to back me up with a marketing document, and I wrote my story about what I’ve got and how it started, and what I wanted to achieve.”
Ms Kline also had the support of Cooper Investors, which funded a short documentary about the scholarship and her personal medical journey.
“I really wanted to do something as a way of saying thank you for doing so much for me throughout my life; he truly is a remarkable person… This is a way of honouring his legacy to medicine and on a personal level for me to say thank you for making a difference to children with eye problems.”
The scholarship is managed by the RCH Foundation as an endowed fund, with interest from the investments used to fund the biennial scholarship.
Donations can be made at: rchfoundation.org.au/donation/frankbillson.
