Our History

The Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne

Joseph Ringland Anderson, a leading ophthalmologist working at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, led a group to establish an ophthalmology department at the University of Melbourne. His ambition was realised soon after his death. The Joseph Ringland Anderson Chair of Ophthalmology was gazetted in March 1963. This was the first chair in Ophthalmology in Australia and was established under a tripartite agreement between the University of Melbourne, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital (RVEEH), and the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia.

Gerard Crock started as Foundation Professor on 1 May 1963, returning from a senior lectureship at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London University.

The Department's research and development initiatives owed much to a young technician scientist, Jean-Marie Parel, who along with Lbjumir Pericic and Professor Crock, pioneered revolutionary changes in binocular ophthalmoscopy, stereofundus angiography, cryoapparatus, operating microscope automation, microsurgical instrumentation, and corneal grafting technology. Most notably, they designed and manufactured the first vitrectomy instrument and thus established modern vitreo-retinal surgery that transformed the management of ocular trauma and diabetic eye disease.

The Department has always valued its close links with the RVEEH (Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital). Together they developed a series of subspecialty clinics at the Hospital including the Vitreo-Retinal Unit and the Ophthalmic Plastic and Lacrimal Surgery Unit. Collaboration with the Department of Optometry led to the formation of the Low Vision Clinic at the Association for the Blind (now Vision Australia), a world leader in the provision of services to people with low vision.

In 1988 Gerard Crock retired and in 1990 Hugh Taylor took up the Ringland Anderson Chair, named in honor of his grandfather.

In 2003 the Department celebrated its 40th anniversary with a colloquium. In 2006, two new chairs were created and international leaders in their fields appointed: Professor Jonathan Crowston from UCSD took up the Chair in Glaucoma and Professor Rasik Vajpayee returned to Melbourne from India as the new Professor of Anterior Segment Surgery.

Professor Taylor retired as Head of Department at the end of 2007. His successor is Professor Tien Wong who became Head on 1 January 2008.

The Centre for Eye Research Australia

The Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) was established in 1996 by Professor Hugh Taylor, with the objective of eliminating vision loss and blindness in our community. CERA incorporated and extended the Department’s research programs and was a catalyst in the development of new projects. Additional staff were appointed, new areas of research introduced. Our team of specialists have achieved extraordinary outcomes in less than a decade.

The Lions Eye Bank, now the Lions Eye Donation Service, was opened in 1991 and by the end of 2007 had provided more than 4,500 cornea for corneal grafting.

The Centre expanded into ocular genetics research in 1994. The McComas Family Laboratory was later established with funding from the McComas family and the Ansell Ophthalmology Foundation.

In 2005 the Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre (RetVIC) was established with a major Victorian government grant. This Centre primarily focuses on the prediction of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and hypertension through analysis of retinal vascular changes.

In 2006 CERA celebrated its 10th anniversary. Professor Hugh Taylor stepped down as Managing Director of the Centre in 2007. Professor Tien Wong was appointed as his successor from 2008.