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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Forensic psychiatry research in the setting of the justice system
Prof Kimberlie Dean is Head of the Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health at UNSW. She was appointed to the inaugural Chair in Forensic Mental Health at UNSW in 2011, a joint appointment with Justice Health NSW. She also holds a Clinical Academic appointment as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist with Justice Health NSW. She is Academic Program Director for the Masters Forensic Mental Health at UNSW.
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Genetics of the choroid and impact on eye health
Dr Samantha Lee is a Senior Research Fellow at Lions Eye Institute and the University of Western Australia. Dr Lee obtained her PhD in 2017 and the Queensland University of Technology and has since been working on the genetics and environmental causes of various eye diseases, with a focus on glaucoma and myopia. She has published 57 full-length scientific papers and her work has been cited over 1,000 times. She serves on the Editorial Board for the journal BMC Ophthalmology and Scientific Reports, and on the Research Advisory Committee for the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia.
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Iodine in pregnancy on baby brain and nervous system development
Dr Karen Best is Senior Research Fellow in the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Women and Kids Theme. She is a Registered Midwife with a unique breadth of experience in clinical project management, academic skills and knowledge translation and is committed to better understanding the essential role that modifiable exposures in pregnancy play in setting the foundations for a healthy start to life.
