Glaucoma Australia (GA) has announced it is awarding $200,000 in new funding for 2021 research projects that support its aim to eliminate glaucoma blindness.
The not-for-profit is committing the funding as part of the second round of its Glaucoma Research Grants Program, funded by the William A Quinlivan Research Fund, to facilitate innovative glaucoma research.
GA anticipates that individual grants of $50,000 to $100,000 per year will be awarded for projects up to three years in duration.
Applications for research commencing in 2021 close 10 August 2020, with the successful recipient announced on World Sight Day on 8 October.
The fund was established in 2006 by Mr Marcus Quinlivan in honour of his father and now has more than $1.8 million in assets. Since its inception, GA has committed $1,024,783 to support Australian glaucoma researchers across a diverse range of projects.
GA CEO Ms Annie Gibbins paid tribute to the research fund’s late benefactor.
“We are so grateful to Mr Quinlivan and his family for their generosity and dedication to glaucoma research. The Quinlivan Research Grants have made significant contributions to Australian medical and social research into glaucoma,” she said.
The fund has supported more than 30 research projects and provided more than a dozen scholarships for researchers.
Most recently it has funded Dr George Kong, from the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and Professor Jamie Craig, of Flinders University.
Kong’s translational research project is the world’s first clinical trial to examine the validity of home monitoring using the first software app for tablet devices for glaucoma patients.
Craig’s work aims to improve prediction of glaucoma for every Australian who will develop the disease, with a view to achieving a paradigm shift in the way glaucoma is prevented.
Governor-General Mr David Hurley, the GA patron, said he was delighted to see the organisation’s commitment to funding and supporting leading glaucoma research in Australia.
“This work will improve the lives of people with glaucoma through better detection and treatment,” he said.
