Professor Keith Martin has been appointed managing director of the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and Ringland Anderson Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Melbourne, from early 2019.

Chair of the CERA Board, Olivia Hilton said, “Keith has a strong commitment to eye research, experience, passion and energy to lead CERA into the future.”

Prof Martin was elected as the first Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cambridge in 2010 and at the time was the youngest full professor at the University of Cambridge Clinical School. A glaucoma specialist, Prof Martin’s ground-breaking research proved that gene therapy and stem cell therapy can reduce optic nerve damage in experimental models of glaucoma. He is co-founder of Quethera, a Cambridge-based gene therapy company which has developed a gene therapy for glaucoma that is currently progressing towards human clinical trials. His other current main research interest is in the potential for regeneration and repair of nerve damage in the eye and brain.

“I look forward to working with you all as we seek to develop innovative and creative new approaches to protect and enhance vision, reducing the burden of blinding eye disease in Australia and around the world. I am excited to get started early next year and am looking forward to the challenges ahead.” Prof Martin said.