Renowned Australian researcher, Professor Alex Hewitt, has been internationally recognised for his substantial contributions to visual science.
Prof Hewitt, who is head of clinical genetics at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and a principal investigator at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, is being awarded the Cogan Award as part of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)’s 2025 Achievement Awards.
The Cogan Award, established in 1988, recognises a young researcher who has made substantial contributions to research in ophthalmology or visual science and shows great promise for future contributions.
In his position at CERA, Prof Hewitt is unlocking the genetic signals that cause diseases like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), which point towards new potential treatments.
As part of the award, he’ll be delivering the Cogan Award Lecture at ARVO 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“This award highlights the many patients, team members, collaborators, and funding bodies who have contributed to our research,” Prof Hewitt said.
“We are on the precipice of a biological revolution in ophthalmology, whereby genetic insight will lead to precision gene-based therapies, and I am certainly excited by the current research being undertaken here in Australia and across the world.”
Prof Hewitt graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2001 and obtained his PhD investigating the molecular and phenotypic associations for open angle glaucoma from Flinders University of South Australia in 2009.
He completed formal ophthalmology training at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne in 2011. The following year he was the Novartis Research Fellow at the Lions Eye Institute and was awarded a WA Tall Poppy Award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science.
In 2016 and 2018, he received an NHMRC Research Excellence Awards for the top ranked Practitioner Fellowship application and Program Grant application, respectively. His clinics at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital specialise in inherited eye diseases.
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