Researcher reaps reward

A routine eye check-up that doubles as a screening for cardio-vascular disease is the vision Professor Tien Yin Wong holds for the future.

It’s a vision that is supported by the research community, after Prof Wong was recently awarded the 2006 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research.

Part of the internationally-renowned Centre for Eye Research Australia based at the Hospital, Prof Wong was the first in the world to categorically demonstrate that subtle damage to blood vessels in the retina can predict cardiovascular conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Using data collected from three large clinical trials involving about 20,000 people, Prof Wong’s research showed that more severe changes in the retinal arteries predicted stroke, but that subtle narrowing of blood vessels predicted high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.

Prof Wong: the 2006 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence recipient

Now, in conjunction with his team at the Retinal Vascular Imaging Centre (RetVIC), he is working to develop special retinal software and grading procedures, which would be used by ophthalmologists and optometrists to analyse images of the eye and show predictors of cardiovascular disease. “It is an ambitious goal, but challenging” Prof Wong said. In 2005, RetVIC received a $2 million Science, Technology and Innovation grant from the Victorian State government to further develop this retinal imaging technology.

Prof Wong’s interest in the link between retinal changes and vascular disease came from his earlier training as a doctor.

“I believe that as ophthalmologists, we need to look at ourselves also as physicians. We need to make sure we have an understanding of what’s going on in the rest of the body, not just in the eyes,” Prof Wong said.

“The idea that the eye is a window to the human body and can predict other areas of human health has been around for more than a century. However, I think RetVIC’s work further proves that changes in the eyes, or diseases of the eye, really are a reflection of the general health and wellbeing in the rest of the human body.”

Top