Members win inaugural Retina Australia Awards

Optometry Australia congratulates members Professor Michael Kalloniatis and Dr Sena Gocuk who were recently named the inaugural recipients of the 2025 Retina Australia Awards. Prof Kalloniatis received the Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his lifelong global contributions that have positively impacted Australians affected by inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), while Dr Gocuk was honoured with the Emerging Scientist Award, recognising her outstanding early career achievements in IRD research.

Retina Australia, a member of Retina International, celebrates individuals who have made lasting contributions nationally or internationally to improve the lives of those affected by inherited retinal diseases.

Hall of Fame Award: Prof Michael Kalloniatis

The Retina Australia Hall of Fame Award recognises Prof Kalloniatis’ lasting, positive impact on the lives of those affected by IRDs, both nationally and internationally.

Prof Kalloniatis is currently an optometry professor at the University of Houston, and also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW and an Affiliate Professor at Deakin University.

His journey in retinal research began with a $6,000 grant from Retina Australia in 1992. This early support laid the groundwork for a distinguished career spanning decades, during which Professor Kalloniatis not only maintained his clinical practice but secured 14 nationally competitive grants – enabling him to establish animal models of retinal dystrophy and a visual psychophysics laboratory. He has held other positions at the Universities of Melbourne and Auckland. Many of his former PhD students and postdoctoral fellows now lead their own IRD research across the globe.

A steadfast advocate, Professor Kalloniatis has also served on the Retina Australia Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee since 2009 and represented Retina Australia at Retina International meetings. He 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.

Reflecting on the honour, Prof Kalloniatis said, ‘I am deeply honoured and humbled to be the inaugural recipient of the Retina Australia Hall of Fame Award. 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 honour with colleagues, past and present students, and postdoctoral fellows’.

Emerging Scientist Award: Dr Sena Gocuk

The inaugural Retina Australia Emerging Scientist Award was presented to Dr Sena Gocuk, an optometrist and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and The University of Melbourne. She is an integral team member of the Retinal Gene Therapy Unit at CERA and the Vision Optimisation Unit in the Department of Optometry of Vision Sciences.

This award attracted many exceptional applicants and recognises early career researchers who have demonstrated excellence in IRD research, leadership and advocacy.

Dr Gocuk’s pioneering research focuses on clinical and epigenetic mechanisms in retinal conditions, with a particular specialisation in female carriers of X-linked inherited retinal diseases. Her work, which unravelled correlations between clinical phenotype, genetics, and epigenetic mechanisms, has been pivotal in investigating the impact of IRDs on female carriers. She is pioneering a groundbreaking 10-year longitudinal study in collaboration with The University of Oxford and Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge UK to track changes in retinal characteristics among female choroideremia carriers.

A passionate advocate, Dr Gocuk is committed to promoting the inclusion of female carriers in upcoming gene therapy interventions, regularly sharing her research updates with conferences and support groups. Her research excellence has also been recognised internationally, earning her the distinguished Ezell Fellowship Award from the American Academy of Optometry, as well as The University of Melbourne Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research.