The Beginning | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | Today
A $3.29 lunch in 1968 between Director of the (then) Victorian College of Optometry (VCO), Dr Barry Cole, Secretary of the College Miss Jean Colledge and Dr David Cockburn was the modest beginnings for the National Vision Research Institute (NVRI). The purpose of the meeting was simple: the creation of a new research facility to undertake basic and clinical research programmes into vision and its disorders.
The NVRI was formally constituted on November 22, 1972, following four years of planning and fund raising by the National Optometric Clinical Sciences Research Fund, a part of the VCO. A new building was commissioned and completed in 1974, following generous donations by the optometrists, the optical industry, members of the public and the Victorian Government. Dr David Cockburn was elected the first Chairman of the NVRI.
The very first research project of the NVRI was conducted by Mr Ian Bailey, Senior Research Officer in the NVRI, with NHMRC funding, investigating "the visual performance and optometric management of patients with severe visual handicap due to low vision due to senile macular degeneration". During these early days, the Chairman, Dr Cockburn was instrumental in securing funding and providing leadership to the newly formed Institute.
"A Chairside Reference on Low Vision", Technical Report No. 1, produced in October 1975 as tools for the very first research project conducted by the NVRI, was widely circulated to low vision clinics and the rooms of practitioners and were available for purchase from the Institute; heralding the first of many practical tools developed by the NVRI for optometrists and vision specialists. It was at this time that Ian Bailey and his postgraduate student, Jan Bailey, developed the now world-famous Bailey-Lovie LogMAR test chart. The principles behind this chart have now been adopted as the gold-standard for visual acuity testing. The advantage over the standard Snellen chart being, that it requires the test subject to perceive five letters for each level of visual acuity instead of just one and the orderly progression of letter sizes.
During the early years of the Institute, funds were scarce and a full-time Director of Research had not been appointed. Dr Barry Cole, Director of the VCO, was acting Director of the NVRI. However the Victorian Government was approached in 1975 and agreed to a grant of $125,000, over three years, to support the initial appointment. It was at this time that Lions International was also approached to obtain funding, which the NVRI was successful in securing. This funding was increased to $31,000 in 1977 and $95,000 in 1978 and was integral to the early functioning of the NVRI and its research programme.
After an international search, in 1978, Dr Donald E. Mitchell was appointed the first director of the Institute. He immediately set a new course for the NVRI to focus on the nature and biological origins of the various developmental disorders of vision. A series of investigations at several different levels were initiated involving psychophysical studies on human clinical populations, to anatomical and physiological studies on visual structures. It was these early 'basic' scientific research projects that created a new direction for the NVRI, a direction it still follows to this day.
Dr Mitchell resigned in 1980 to return to Canada, where he still remains, Professor of Psychology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Senior Research Officer, Dr John D. "Jack" Pettigrew took over as acting-Director until a new Director could be found. Under Dr Pettigrew, the Institute produced an astonishing thirty-five publications and secured eight grants, a notable effort for such a small research outfit at the time.
In 1983 Professor Abbie A. Hughes, from the John Curtin School of Medical Research in the Australian National University, was appointed Director of the Institute. A research theme, "the Eye from Birth to Old Age", was created and the new direction of research was followed; facilities for optical, neurophysiological and pathological investigations were constructed and, for the first time in Australia, the ability to record from and stain the processes of selected cells in living, isolated, retina for combined anatomical and physiological studies was made possible by Dr David Vaney. During her Directorship, Professor Hughes contributed strongly to the debate about increased funding for scientific research in Australia and was very passionate about securing the future of the NVRI.
Dr Rachel O.L. Wong joined the Institute as NVRI Research Fellow, quickly establishing herself as a strong investigator in retinal anatomy and early retinal development.
Dr David Cockburn, Chairman of the Board of Adminstration of the NVRI was honoured in 1987 by admission honoris causa to the degree of Doctor of Science in the University of Melbourne, for his contribution to scientific research and the profession of Optometry.
In 1988, after six highly productive years as Director, Professor Hughes resigned her position to begin an elected term on the Editorial Board of the journal Vision Research. Dr David Vaney left the NVRI to head the Vision Unit at the new Centre for Research on Vision, Hearing and Touch, at the University of Queensland. Dr David Cockburn resigned from the Board of Directors and was replaced by John Emsley, who resigned shortly afterwards, and was replaced by Dr Rodney D. Watkins. The Institute owes much of its success during these years to the Schultz and Laubman families and to major sponsors the Victorian Lions and the Victorian State Government.
After another international search for a new Director, Dr Robert C. Augusteyn was appointed to the role. Dr Augusteyn was a Reader in Biochemistry in the University of Melbourne, and was an acknowledged world-leader in the field of biochemistry of the lens and cataract formation. New programmes on the biochemistry of the lens of the eye, prevention of cataract, presbyopia and the retinal dystrophies were initiated under Dr Augusteyn; the new theme of the NVRI became "The Ageing Lens and Visual Impairment". In 1991 Dr Barbara Pierscionek was made the NVRI Don Schultz Fellow and her work at the NVRI on the eye lens led to her being awarded the NHMRC Wright Fellowship (then, the youngest ever recipient).
The main laboratory, the Don Schulz Laboratory, was renovated and enlarged to create an area more suitable for biological research. The expansion of the VCO during the early 1990s was of major benefit to the NVRI as the rooms in the terrace houses, which were being leased by the VCO, were now available for the NVRI. A lack of space for researchers and staff had been a serious impediment for previous generations of the NVRI and finally it was possible to expand the size of the Institute in order to increase its potential. Membership of the NVRI was at 600 during this period and was continuing to grow each year; in fact the NVRI itself had nineteen staff, the largest it had ever been.
Dr Augusteyn was instrumental in securing funding and support for the Victorian Centre for Research on Retinitis Pigmentosa, which was established in 1994 - the centre was supported by the Australian RP Association and the Victorian RP Society. Retinitis Pigmentosa had become a focus for Dr Augusteyn and his staff, and establishment of the Centre was a logical extension of their work.
In 1994, after 22 years as the foundation Secretary of the Board of the NVRI, Jean Colledge retired. Her remarkable contributions during this period were recognised with the creation of the Jean S. Colledge Bursary in Vision Science, available each year to postgraduate students undertaking vision research at the Institute. Jean was instrumental in the early days of the NVRI, travelling around Australia during the late 1960s and early 1970s to raise money for its creation.
The financial future of the NVRI was, again, secured in 1995, following the adoption of the Institute by the Lions Personality Quest. Lions have a proud history of providing support for scientific research in Victoria. A permanent Lions Vision Research Fellow was created for the NVRI, and still exists today, ensuring that research programmes continue to be at the leading edge of vision research. Joyce Schultz became the first Major Benefactor of the NVRI, following a major donation to the Schultz-Laubman-Schultz Fund, established in 1972. Always a keen supporter of NVRI activities, Mrs Schultz would travel from Adelaide to attend the Annual General Meetings.
After seven years as the Chairman of the Board, Dr Rod Watkins stepped down to focus on his own business. An invaluable member of the NVRI, Dr Watkins was instrumental in improving relations with the VCO and played a role in the introduction of new research directions under Dr Augusteyn; he was succeeded by Mrs Susan Kalff, the Deputy Chairman. NVRI Fellow Professor Allan Snyder FRS FAA, received the Australia Prize in 1997, the second Fellow to be awarded this highly prestigious award (the first being Professor Peter Bishop FRS FAA, "Dean" of Australian Ophthalmic Science in 1992).
Renovations to the VCO were completed in 1997 resulting in a three-storey extension behind the terrace houses on Cardigan Street. New laboratories, improved facilities, and a new computer network, greatly improving communications between laboratories and offices, the VCO and the rest of the world. During renovations, disaster struck twice sadly and two refrigerators and a freezer were unplugged, resulting in the loss of over $200,000 worth of specimens and precious samples.
A five-year plan (of the capitalist variety!) was adopted in 1998 with the aims of doubling the size and activities of the NVRI, and certainly, given the increased space available to researchers, this was a smart idea. Dr Augusteyn was appointed Professorial Fellow by the University of Melbourne in recognition of his scientific achievements and international standing, according him the rank of Professor in the University.
Following fantastic fundraising by Lions International, the Lions Vision Research Fellowship Fund used to create the NVRI Lions Vision Research Fellow grew to over $800,000, and was then in a position to commence a significant contribution to the salary of the Fellow. Work in the Molecular Biology of Vision Unit on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progressed rapidly, under the supervision of Dr Martin Tymms, new projects, equipment and staff ensured the Unit was always humming with activity. A further large bequest for research was made to the NVRI following the death of Mr Noel Athol Kay. Mr Kay was interested in furthering research that would lead to measures for preventing or delaying ocular disease. The Estate of Donald Schultz provided a final extremely large bequest to the Institute, in addition to the Schultz-Laubman-Schultz Endowment Fund, which continues to provide a constant income stream to support Institute activities.
In 2002, after nearly eleven years as Director, Professor Augusteyn stepped down from his position to pursue research independently. Professor Augusteyn's Institute, over the years, provided innumerable contributions, both large and small, to vision research, and the field of biochemistry. The generous bequest from the estate of Donald Schultz permitted the NVRI to expand its activities and embark on new research programmes, allowing the Director to devote more time to research and less to fundraising activities; a very important change in the life of the NVRI. As the longest-serving NVRI Director, Professor Augusteyn had the task of steering the Institute through an era of low funding and oversaw the major redevelopment and expansion of its home in Carlton.
Again, after an extensive international search, Dr Paul Martin, an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, was appointed Director of Research in 2002. Dr Martin was made a Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne, and joined the NVRI with the aim of pursuing research into the neural basis for colour vision. Professor Martin transplanted his entire lab at the University of Sydney, to start afresh at the NVRI, and a new Lions Vision Research Fellow, Dr Ulrike Grünert, was appointed to investigate the synaptic circuitry of the retina. The long-term goal of Professor Martin is improved knowledge of how the eye and brain work together to give the sense of sight. This knowledge forms the rational basis for understanding the basis of human visual performance and visual dysfunction, and for the treatment of visual disorders. The Martin lab has been working solidly since this time, with numerous discoveries and contributions to our understanding of the neural substrates of colour vision and the connections in the retina.
The NVRI was extremely fortunate to receive Dr Richard Masland, Dr Barry B. Lee and Dr Jonathan Victor as Visiting Research Fellows to the Institute, which resulted in many important publications being produced from these visits.
Under Professor Martin, in 2007 the NVRI has hosted the Summer Colour Conference, attracting many internationally renowned researchers in a small, informal setting to address current research, issues and methodologies in colour vision. 2009 saw the NVRI host the Symposium on Visual Processing which was a small meeting designed to highlight the advances being made in Vision Research in Australia - two excellent international speakers, Dr Austin Roorda and Dr Benjamin Reese, from the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Barbara campuses respectively, also shared their latest results.
In December 2009, Professor Martin resigned as Director of Research at the NVRI to take up a position at the University of Sydney and Save Sight Institute with Associate Professor Grünert.
Where will the National Vision Research Institute take us in the future? Keep watching...!