Glaucoma Research Grant Recipient Aims to Establish Normal Range of IOP in Children and Young Adults

Sydney, Australia – What is the normal range of intraocular pressure (IOP) in children and young adults, and does it predict later glaucoma? That is the question the recipient of Glaucoma Australia’s ‘Quinlivan’ Research Grant seeks to answer.

Glaucoma Australia and its Patron, the Governor-General of Australia, His Excellency the Honourable David Hurley, are pleased to announce the 2023 glaucoma research grant is awarded to Professor David Mackey AO, Professor of Ophthalmology at the Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The University of Western Australia.

“I congratulate Professor Mackey on receiving the 2023 Glaucoma Australia ‘Quinlivan’ Research Grant. Since his pioneering work into glaucoma genetics research in 1994, Australia has led the world in this field. I’d like to thank Professor Mackey and his follow researchers for their continued work, and I wish them the very best in their future endeavours to eliminate glaucoma blindness,” the Governor-General said.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The main risk factors for glaucoma are family history, genetics and elevated eye pressure.

Although we know that middle-aged and older adults with high eye pressure are more likely to develop glaucoma, there is surprisingly little information on eye pressure in young adults and children.

Lead Investigator Professor Mackey, who is the world’s most published author in glaucoma genetics, said data on the range and changes of intraocular pressure (IOP) during childhood and early adulthood is limited in both people with a high genetic risk of glaucoma and the general population.

“Although we can now provide a newborn baby their genetic risk for developing glaucoma in adult life, we do not know when we need to initiate examination or intervention in at-risk individuals,” Prof Mackey said.