7 hours ago
Retina Australia is delighted to announce the two inaugural recipients of the Retina Australia Awards.
2025 Retina Australia Hall of Fame Award
Professor Michael Kalloniatis is the recipient of the 2025 Hall of Fame Award, honouring his outstanding achievements that have made a positive impact on the lives of Australians affected by inherited retinal diseases.
2025 Retina Australia Emerging Scientist Award
Dr Sena Gocuk is the recipient of the 2025 Emerging Scientist Award, recognising and supporting her demonstrated excellence in research, leadership and advocacy in inherited retinal diseases.
2025 Hall of Fame Award - Professor Michael Kalloniatis
The Hall of Fame Award honours an individual whose outstanding achievements have made a positive impact on the lives of Australians with inherited retinal disease.
The 2025 Retina Australia Hall of Fame awardee is Professor Michael Kalloniatis BSc(Optom), MSc(Optom), PhD, GCOT, FAAO.
Professor Michael Kalloniatis has made a significant and sustained contribution to Retina Australia nationally and internationally.
He was a past grant recipient of Retina Australia and received his first research grant of $6,000 in 1992.
Since then, whilst maintaining his clinical work as an optometrist, he has contributed to research into inherited retinal disease; leading various teams of researchers, establishing animal models of retinal dystrophy and a visual psychophysics laboratory.
Between 1992 & 2008 he received 14 grants for research into inherited retinal disease enabling him to lead various teams of researchers, establish animal models of retinal dystrophy and a visual psychophysics laboratory.
He has shared his knowledge of inherited retinal diseases through working as a lecturer at the Universities of Melbourne, Auckland, New South Wales, Deakin and Houston. He is currently a professor in the College of Optometry, University of Houston and holds an Adjunct Professorship at UNSW and is an Affiliate Professor at Deakin University continuing his clinical teaching to optometry students and his research activities.
As well, Professor Kalloniatis has mentored many students who have been successful in achieving their PhDs in inherited retinal disease-related studies, and who have continued to work in the field.
He was invited to join the Retina Australia Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee in September 2009 and since then has represented Retina Australia internationally at Retina International Scientific meetings from 2010 until 2024, and provided advice to the Board about global research and potential treatments.
Michael was instrumental in setting up the New Zealand National Eye Centre, which opened during 2008 and from 2009 to 2022 he was Director, Centre for Eye Health, University of New South Wales.
Throughout his career, Michael has taught a significant number of optometry students and continued his own clinical practice which has had a positive impact on many Australians and New Zealanders who have been diagnosed with, and sought advice about, inherited retinal disease.
He has certainly upheld the mission and values of Retina Australia throughout his over 30 years affiliation with our organisation, during which time he has provided sage advice and been a staunch advocate of our work.
Professor Kalloniatis accepted the Award at the Retina Australia Annual General Meeting. “I am deeply honored and humbled to be the inaugural recipient of the Retina Australia Hall of Fame Award,” Kalloniatis said. “This recognition is a personal milestone and a reflection of the many individuals who have worked alongside me in the laboratory and in the clinic. I share this honor with colleagues, past and present students, and postdoctoral fellows.”
2025 Early Scientist Award - Dr Sena Gocuk
Following an intensive selection process, the Board determined that the 2025 Emerging Scientist Award be presented to Dr Sena Gocuk, an optometrist who is also a postdoctoral research fellow specialising in retinal conditions, with a particular focus on female carriers of X-linked inherited retinal diseases.
This Award was advertised Australia-wide and encouraged a number of exceptional candidates to apply. It is aimed at fostering the growth and development of early career researchers working in inherited retinal disease research.
Dr Gocuk demonstrated excellence in research, leadership and advocacy as an early career researcher, and clearly indicated her ability to develop her own research direction, lead and influence others to support her work, and use a number of communication strategies to promote the research that she has such a strong passion for.
Dr. Sena Gocuk is an optometrist and postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and The University of Melbourne. She is a part of the Retinal Gene Therapy Unit at CERA and the Vision Optimisation Unit in the Department of Optometry of Vision Sciences. Her research focuses on clinical and epigenetic mechanisms specialising in retinal conditions, with a particular focus on inherited retinal diseases. Dr. Gocuk’s research unravelled correlations between clinical phenotype, genetics, and epigenetic mechanisms to investigate impact of disease in female carriers of IRD.
Pioneering a groundbreaking 10-year longitudinal study in collaboration with The University of Oxford and Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge), she investigated changes in retinal characteristics among female choroideremia carriers.
Her research has earned her the University of Melbourne Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, as well as the distinguished Ezell Fellowship Award presented by the American Academy of Optometry.
Dr. Gocuk has become an advocate for female carriers of X-linked IRDs, speaking at conferences, support groups, and meetings to provide research updates and encourage the inclusion of female carriers for inclusion in upcoming gene therapy interventions. As a postdoctoral research fellow, Dr. Gocuk continues investigating disease mechanisms, novel biomarkers of retinal disease, and retinal gene therapy potential for female carriers.
Congratulations to both our Retina Australia 2025 Award winners!
https://retinaaustralia.com.au/retina-australia-awards-2025/
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