Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) has awarded a total of AU$300,000 to two groundbreaking research projects, marking a significant milestone in its 25th anniversary year. The awards were announced at a special event held at The Woodward Centre in Melbourne on 19 June 2026.
Associate Professor Zhichao Wu was presented with the new MDFA 25th Anniversary Award, which provides $200,000 to advance understanding of geographic atrophy (GA).
Professor Angus Taylor was the first recipient of the Elisabeth Macdonald Memorial Award, which provides $100,000 to support people living with macular disease in regional and rural Australia.
Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA) has awarded a total of AU$300,000 to two groundbreaking research projects, marking a significant milestone in its 25th anniversary year
Accelerating GA Treatment Discovery
Assoc Prof Wu is a Principal Research Fellow and Head of Clinical Biomarkers Research at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), and a Principal Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
His work broadly focuses on overcoming barriers to discovering new treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), translating clinical research into practical applications, and evaluating promising new treatments for AMD.
He also aims to better understand the direct benefits to people with GA of potential new treatments in preserving and maintaining vision.
The MDFA 25th Anniversary Award will fund Assoc Prof Wu’s project that seeks to address the need for more accurate ways to detect vision loss in people with geographic atrophy, by testing a new, more sensitive method of monitoring vision loss from geographic atrophy.
To do this, the researchers will combine two types of eye test:
- Microperimetry, which measures how well the macula is functioning, and
- Optical coherence technology (OCT), which shows the structure of the retina and the macula.
Current research and clinical trials show that the loss of retinal cells can be slowed down with intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy, but current treatments do not completely stop progression of GA, leading to irreversible vision loss.
By improving the accuracy of detecting and measuring changes in the progression of GA, Assoc Prof Wu’s research could accelerate the development and testing of new treatments in clinical trials. This could be achieved by reducing the number of people needed to participate in these trials, making future studies more efficient, overcoming a major barrier to treatment discovery.
AI-Enabled Neurodegenerative Retinal Disease Detection
Prof Turner is an internationally recognised clinician and researcher specialising in retinal and macular diseases, and eye care delivery in rural and remote areas.
In regional and rural Western Australia, access to timely eye care is limited by distance, workforce shortages, and long waiting times. For many communities in these areas, primary care providers and optometrists are the main source of eye care.
Prof Turner’s research involves using images of the retina, artificial intelligence (AI), telehealth, mobile screening programs, and innovative models of care to help improve access to specialist eye care across regional and rural Western Australia for people who would otherwise have no access to care, or would have had to travel long distances for specialist eye care.
Already, this work has improved access to quality and effective eye care and has enabled earlier detection, diagnosis, and treatment in underserved communities.
With funding from the Elisabeth Macdonald Memorial Award, Prof Turner aims to further develop and evaluate an AI-enabled screening system, built into special cameras that take images of the retina, to detect eye conditions such as AMD, glaucoma, and diabetes-related eye conditions like diabetic retinopathy.
By combining the retinal images, clinical data, and AI support, the system will help health care professionals such as GPs and optometrists, more accurately identify retinal and macular diseases, improving early detection and more timely referrals in rural and regional Australia. The project will also ensure the technology is safe, accurate, and suitable for community-based care.
Building on a Legacy
Funded through the generosity of donors, these anniversary grants build on MDFA’s strong research legacy. Since 2011, MDFA has invested $7.2 million into world-class Australian research, making it the largest non-government funder of macular disease research in Australia.
Associate Professor Zhichao Wu - Centre For Eye Research Australia
Professor Angus Turner - Lions Eye Institute and UWA
