The ophthalmic industry has been well represented at the 2024 SA Science Excellence and Innovation Awards, with researcher Professor Jamie Craig being awarded the Scientist of the Year Award and the ZEISS PhotoFusion X team being recognised with the Innovator of the Year award.
Professor Craig, a Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor and Head of Ophthalmology at Flinders University and the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, received the prestigious Scientist of the Year Award in Adelaide this month for his groundbreaking research on glaucoma.
Working closely with industry, Prof Craig and his team have developed the first accredited clinical genetic test, which enables more accurate and earlier diagnoses and management of glaucoma to prevent vision loss in high-risk individuals.
Prof Craig said the “ability to be able to apply the research that we have been doing for 20 years and actually make it available to doctors and optometrists is something our whole team is very proud of”.
“We’re now able to apply for the first time a personalised approach to managing glaucoma, and this will apply to other eye diseases.”
Innovator of the Year
ZEISS was recognised for its PhotoFusion X photochromic lens technology that enables sunglasses lenses to adapt quickly to changing light conditions, improving vision and and eye health for consumers.
ZEISS’s Dr Scott Clafton said that working on mature technology like photochromic lenses is “quite tricky”.
“There’s been a lot of people who have come before and had a lot of good ideas, so you have to be creative and think differently about how you develop the product to differentiate yourself from the competition,” Dr Clafton said.
South Australian Showcase
The SA Science Excellence and Innovation Awards showcases the critical importance of science, research, and innovation to the development of industry and society as a whole.
The Awards are described as a “significant occasion in South Australia’s science calendar and are recognised as the premier science showcase event highlighting the diversity of scientific endeavour and research” in South Australia.
