CORNEAL AND OCULAR SURFACE IMMUNOLOGY AND REGENERATION
Associate Professor Holly Chinnery,
Inaugural Ian Constable Research Fellow,
Lions Eye Institute,
UWA Optometry at The University of Western Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Perth, Western Australia | November 2024
Associate Professor Holly Chinnery is a teaching and research academic in the field of corneal and ocular immunology who has spent her career teaching anatomy and immunology to Optometry students at the University of Melbourne and now at UWA, while also leading a Corneal and Ocular Immunology Research team.
Career highlights include:
– Leading a team of students and early career staff over the past 15 years working on corneal and retinal immunology, a co-leading the FrontTear Research Centre with Professor Laura Downie at the University of Melbourne https://www.fronttear.au/
– Receiving NH&MRC Ideas and ARC Discovery Grant funding
– Speaking invitations at Oxford University, University of Birmingham and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology; and recent publications in PNAS and Nature Reviews Immunology.
Assoc Professor Chinnery’s career in ocular immunology began with a focus on animal models; however, it has recently transitioned into clinical imaging studies involving human research participants. The ability to visualise the immune system and sensory nerves in the human cornea represents a significant advantage in corneal immunology and neuroimmunology research.
This advancement is made possible through a methodology called Functional In Vivo Confocal Microscopy (Fun-IVCM), which enables the observation of immune cell dynamics in the living human eye. Utilising this technology led to a breakthrough in the field of ocular immunology, culminating in a report published in PNAS, a highly prestigious journal, regarding the presence of T cells in the healthy human cornea https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2217795120.
This finding challenges existing dogmas and is poised to reshape the field of corneal immunology, prompting a reconsideration of previously held beliefs about how the cornea manages inflammation and immune protection, with direct implications for healthy vision.
For the first time, a variety of immune cells can be visualised in the living human cornea, generating a wealth of new questions about immunology, cell biology, and the effects that diseases outside the eye have on immune cells at the eye’s surface.
In her recent appointment at the Lions Eye Institute, Assoc Professor Chinnery aims to establish and support a team of researchers focused on corneal and ocular surface regeneration, which is one of the key research priorities of the Institute.
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Junior Fellowship to develop vaccine for bacteria that cause ear infections
Dr Erin Brazel has a background in molecular and translational microbiology, with a focus on developing new ways of preventing and treating bacterial diseases. Recently Dr Brazel has been awarded a Junior Fellowship by the Passe & Williams Memorial Foundation.
The fellowship enables outstanding individuals to obtain postdoctoral training under the supervision of an experienced clinical or scientific researcher, with the view to establishing a research career in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery in Australia and/or New Zealand.
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Visceral pain and the gut-brain axis
Professor Stuart Brierley is Director of the Visceral Pain Research Group, Director of the Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology, and Theme co-Leader of Lifelong Health at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Prof Brierley is an international expert on the ‘gut-brain axis’ and chronic visceral pain mechanisms. Current investigations are on a individual cell type called the enterochromaffin cell, and it helps signal pain and anxiety from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.
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Big data to improve the use of antidepressant medicines in aged care
Georgina Hughes is a pharmacist & PhD Candidate with the University of South Australia Clinical and Health Sciences and the Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA), undertaking research at South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
Georgina’s PhD study and first published paper was on how to improve the safe and effective use of antidepressant medicines and optimise quality use of medicines in older people accessing residential aged care.
