Vision and tech: seeing the future of eye health
Until very recently, there were no treatments for people with genetic eye disease, the most common cause of blindness in young adults. This has now changed, with the first ever direct-to-patient gene therapy approved for an eye disease in Australia in 2020. Lauren’s passion for this field started as a child, growing up with a brother who was blind. She is proud to be working with world leaders in new technologies to protect or restore sight, including bionic eyes, gene therapies and stem cells. Join Lauren as she covers the basics of vision (and why the anatomy of the eye makes no sense!), what can go wrong with our sight, and the new technologies that may change the future for people living with vision loss. Lauren will be joined by the most important expert of the evening – Cameron – a father of two girls and teacher/educator who will discuss his experiences with vision loss, and what it is like to be involved in ground-breaking clinical trials.
Bio
Lauren is a Professor in Optometry and Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne, who has worked for 20 years researching eye disease and new treatments to stop or restore vision loss. She has worked with bionic eye developers in both Melbourne and the USA, and now works with companies and scientists developing gene therapies. Lauren is passionate about science communication, and is a regular radio host (3RR Einstein A Go Go program).
Event
Wednesday 13 May, 8:00 pm @The Toff, 2f/252 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Also speaking at this location at 6:00 pm is Ms Hannah Joshi-Sharma
