A number of Australia’s leading researchers have received significant support in the latest round of funding from the Grant Family Fund and Macular Disease Foundation Australia.
Studies that aim to predict and prevent the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), research into new imaging techniques, and a new gene therapy and targeted treatment for inherited diseases are among eight groundbreaking Australian research projects awarded more than $1 million in Macular Disease Foundation Australia’s (MDFA) 2025 funding round.
Led by some of Australia’s top researchers, the new projects will help improve treatments, reduce the burden of macular disease, and help protect future generations from its impact.
This year’s investment marks the third round of funding from the Grant Family Fund, a generous bequest that supports blue sky research projects led by early career researchers.
The 2025 Macular Disease Foundation research grant recipients include:
• Dr Sushma Anand, Centre for Eye Research Australia.
• Professor Erica Fletcher, University of Melbourne.
• Professor Mark Gillies, Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney.
• Professor Robyn Guymer AM, Centre for Eye Research Australia.
• Dr Samuel McLenachan, Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia.
• Dr Danuta Sampson, Lions Eye Institute, University of Western Australia.
• Dr Jiang-Hui (Sloan) Wang, Centre for Eye Research Australia.
• Professor Joanne Wood, Queensland University of Technology.
The 2025 funding brings MDFA’s total research investment to $6.9 million across 42 projects since the launch of its research grants program in 2011.
The foundation remains the largest non-government funder of macular and retinal disease research in Australia.
“These projects have the potential to change lives, not just here in Australia, but globally,” says MDFA CEO Dr Kathy Chapman.
“We’re proud to extend our support for research that could redefine how macular diseases are diagnosed, treated, and ultimately prevent blindness – delivering real-world benefits for ophthalmologists, optometrists, and, importantly, people living with a macular disease.
“This funding round also marks a significant step toward our goal of doubling the number of research projects we support by 2030. We’re empowering Australian researchers to lead the way in tackling macular disease.
“Macular Disease Foundation’s research funding is made possible thanks to the incredible generosity of the community, who are investing in fast-tracking world-class Australian research to help us move closer to prevention and cure.”
The MDFA research grants will be awarded by the Governor-General at Admiralty House in Sydney this month.
NOTE: To learn more about the funded projects or future funding opportunities, visit www.mdfoundation.com.au.
Project summaries and researcher bios
Dr Sushma Anand
Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA)
Dr Sushma Anand is a research- scientist on a mission to stop blindness. As a Postdoctoral Fellow at CERA, Dr Anand works at the forefront of vision science, developing new ways to treat retinal diseases that currently have no cure such as macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) and Stargardt disease. For people slowly losing their sight, her research offers the possibility of preserving or even regaining their vision.
Dr Anand and her team will explore how exosomes – tiny, naturally occurring “delivery vehicles” – can be used to transport medicines and genes directly to the cells in the eye that need them. She is planning to use exosomes to deliver DNA to retinal cells to correct the genetic defect that causes Stargardt disease.
Professor Erica Fletcher
University of Melbourne
Erica Fletcher is a Professor of the Department of Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Melbourne. She has more than 20 years’ experience researching retinal diseases, especially age-related macular degeneration, and has published over 150 articles on this topic.
Prof Fletcher and her team, supported by MDFA funding, will investigate reticular pseudodrusen, a type of waste material that deposits on the macula, that is associated with increased risk of late-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The researchers plan to create a special type of cell called microglia, a type of immune cell in the retina, from blood samples of people with AMD – both with and without reticular pseudodrusen, as well as from people without AMD, to compare how effectively the microglia remove waste from the macula.
Professor Mark Gillies
Save Sight Institute,
University of Sydney
Prof Mark Gillies is a specialist ophthalmologist whose research focuses on the causes and treatment of retinal diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and macular telangiectasia (MacTel). He is the director of Research at the Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney, and is actively involved in patient care both through his ophthalmology practice and as head
of the Medical Retina Clinic at Sydney Eye Hospital.
The goal of Prof Gillies’ project is to discover which of the six currently available anti-VEGF eye injection treatments for neovascular AMD are least likely to lead to macular atrophy or scarring beneath the macula. Prof Gillies and his team also plan to investigate whether tolerating fluid under the retina, a sign of active neovascular AMD, by injecting less frequently, is linked to a reduced risk of developing macular atrophy.
Professor Robyn Guymer
Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA)
Robyn Guymer AM is Professor of Ophthalmology at Melbourne University and a deputy director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia where she leads a team of researchers investigating age-related macular degeneration (AMD). She is also a senior retinal specialist at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
Her project aims to determine how common nocturnal hypoxia (low night-time blood oxygen levels) is in people with neovascular AMD compared to similarly aged people without AMD. The researchers are also interested in comparing the ‘aggressiveness’ of neovascular AMD for example, the age when neovascular AMD developed, whether one or both eyes are affected, and the need for more frequent eye-injections, in people with and without nocturnal hypoxia.
Dr Samuel McLenachan
Lions Eye Institute, University
of Western Australia
Dr Samuel McLenachan is the senior laboratory scientist of the Ocular Tissue Engineering Laboratory, which he co-founded at the Lions Eye Institute with Macular Disease Foundation’s Research Committee member and
clinician-scientist Associate Professor Fred Chen. Dr McLenachan has established one of Australia’s largest retinal disease biobanks and provides DNA banking for the Australian Inherited Retinal Disease Registry.
He seeks to deepen the understanding of PRPH2-associated retinal dystrophy (PARD) through his MDFA-funded research project. The investigators will study variations in the PRPH2 gene, along with other related genes (called ABCA4 and ROM1), to determine how the different mutations influence the clinical features of retinal dystrophy. Dr McLenachan and his team plan to use stem-cell models from people with PRPH2-associated retinal dystrophy to conduct their research.
Dr Danuta Sampson
Lions Eye Institute, University
of Western Australia
Dr Danuta Sampson is an internationally trained physicist and senior scientist at the Lions Eye Institute. She holds honorary appointments at the University of Western Australia, University College London and the University of Surrey, UK. She is dedicated to advancing global eye health by developing methods to standardise data collection and analysis to uncover new retinal disease patterns and improve clinical care.
Dr Sampson and her team of collaborators aim to standardise the computer software used to analyse OCT-A images, to enable faster, more accurate and consistent image processing and diagnosis reporting, so that the information can be shared across hospitals and clinics.
Dr Jiang-Hui (Sloan) Wang
Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA)
Dr Jiang-Hui (Sloan) Wang is an early-career scientist working towards developing next-generation retinal gene therapies for conditions such as Leber congenital amaurosis and Stargardt disease. He trained under a gene therapy pioneer in the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School and has published his work in several scientific journals since.
Dr Wang’s research focuses on overcoming a major challenge in gene therapy for Stargardt disease: safely and efficiently delivering the large ABCA4 gene to the retina to repair the faulty gene involved in causing Stargardt disease. He plans to deliver the ABCA4 gene into retinal cells (photoreceptors) using a specially modified virus.
Professor Joanne Wood
Queensland University
of Technology
Joanne Wood is a professor in the Centre for Vision and Eye Research, Optometry and Vision Science at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane. She has published her work in over 300 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and journal editorials, and has presented her findings at national and international conferences.
Drivers with macular disease often experience a loss of independence if they no longer meet driver licensing standards. However, access to modern vehicle technologies, such as advanced driver assistance systems, and conditional licensing options may enable some people with macular disease to drive safely for longer. Prof Wood plans to further investigate these options by conducting focus groups and a nationwide survey with drivers at various stages of macular disease to explore their experiences, challenges and needs. A second nationwide survey will explore the conditional licensing practices of ophthalmologists who manage drivers with macular disease.
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