Save Sight Institute

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Clinical research unit

Conducting clinical trials in macular and retinal diseases
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We’re an internationally certified clinical trial unit, conducting randomised clinical trials in macular and retinal diseases out of two clinics in the Sydney Hospital. Our clinical trials are:

  • free of charge 
  • an opportunity for patients to try emerging treatments which may not yet be available in Australia or the public health system 
  • conducted according to the strict guidelines of the International Conference on the Harmonisation of Good Clinical Practice (ICH GCP) 
  • run by staff who are experienced and internationally certified in vision assessments and retinal imaging procedures. 

Patients enrolled in our clinical studies receive the highest standard of care and follow up. We ensure the patient is fully informed of all processes and procedures which are to be conducted according to the clinical trial protocols. Some trials provide reimbursement towards the cost of patient travel to appointments.

View our current and completed clinical trials here.

Research areas

Age-related macular degeneration

  • Age-related macular degeneration damages the macula, which is the central part of the retina. AMD causes more Australian adults to go blind every year than any other disease. AMD has two types, namely wet and dry. 
  • Wet AMD affects fine, detailed central vision. In wet AMD, eye damage is caused when abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula. These vessels can leak blood or fluid which then damages the macula and causes deterioration or loss of central vision. 
  • Wet AMD can be effectively treated and managed by injecting into the eye anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents. Anti-VEGF agents work by blocking VEGF, reducing the growth of abnormal vessels and cessation of leakage from the new vessel. 
  • Meanwhile, dry AMD is characterised by the presence of drusen and/or geographic atrophy. Approved treatments for dry AMD are only recent and not yet reimbursed in Australia.

Our unit has been involved over the past 2 decades on clinical trials which have brought several effective treatments to patients for wet and dry macular degeneration.

Diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular oedema

  • The second most common macular disease after macular degeneration is diabetic macular oedema (DMO). This involves swelling of the macula which is secondary to damage to the macular blood vessels, something which commonly occurs in people with diabetes. 
  • DMO occurs in around 7% of people with diabetes. Given that diabetes affects 5-10% of Australians (in some Indigenous communities the rates are up to 50%), DMO is a common cause of loss of vision. 
  • Eye injections of specific medications have been developed to better control the swelling and damage. There are currently two main types of injections that are used to treat DMO (1) steroids and (2) vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. 
  • VEGF inhibitors (such as Avastin, Lucentis or Eylea) were first developed to treat wet macular degeneration, however it is now evident that they are also effective treatments for DMO.

Our unit has been involved in the past 2 decades on clinical trials which have brought several effective treatments to patients for diabetic macular oedema. Our own BEVORDEX study provided significant new insights into the treatment of this condition using anti-VEGF inhibitors and steroidal implants.

Macular telangiectasia (MacTel)

  • Idiopathic juxtafoveal macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel) is a condition of the macula about which little was known before we started the “MacTel Project”. It is a disorder of the retinal support cells (Muller cells) that leads to degeneration of the photoreceptors, which are the cells that detect light. 
  • While MacTel does not usually cause total blindness, it commonly causes loss of the central vision, which is required for reading and driving vision, over a period of 10-20 years and it was previously untreatable.

Professor Mark Gillies was instrumental in the instigation of the MacTel Project. Our site was the lead enrolling site in clinical trials that lead to the FDA approval of ENCELTO, the first treatment for Macular Telangiectasia Type II.

Retinal vein occlusion

  • Blood clotting in a retinal vein is a relatively common condition called retinal vein occlusion (RVO). When a retinal vein is occluded, blood returning from the retina that is drained by the vein is blocked, causing the retina to swell, a condition known as retinal oedema. If the retinal vein drains the macula, then macula oedema occurs which causes loss of vision. 
  • Retinal vein occlusion often improves without treatment in the first three months, so usually no treatments are applied during that time. 
  • After three months a fluorescein angiogram will be performed. The angiogram will divide the occlusion into the non-ischaemic and ischaemic types. For the non-ischaemic types it will also show where the leakage which is causing the macular oedema is coming from.

Our unit has been involved in the past 2 decades on clinical trials which have developed several effective treatments to patients for retinal vein occlusion.

Key people

  • Dr Sahar Al Ali, Medical Retina Fellow
  • Associate Professor Elisa Cornish, Medical Retina Specialist
  • Professor Clare Fraser, Neuro-Ophthalmologist
  • Associate Professor Samantha Fraser-Bell, Medical Retina Specialist
  • Professor Mark Gillies, Medical Retina Specialist
  • Helen Jeong, Clinical Research Unit Team Leader and Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Dr Matthew Lee, Uveitis Fellow
  • Chanel Ling, Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Rachelle Lupingna, Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Emily Luu, Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Sharon McKenzie, Clinical Research Nurse
  • Loreto Obias, Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Professor Matthew Simunovic, Vitreoretinal Surgeon
  • Damian Stephens, Clinical Research Orthoptis
  • Dr Richard Symes, Medical Retina and Uveitis Specialist
  • Danijel Trifunovic, Clinical Research Unit Team Leader and Clinical Research Orthoptist
  • Maria Williams, Clinical Research Manager 
  • Dr James Wong, Medical Retina Specialist
  • Dr Sophia Zagora, Medical Retina and Uveitis Specialist

Contact us

Email
Submit your enquiry

Mailing address
South Block, Sydney Eye Hospital
8 Macquarie Street
Sydney, NSW 2000