A new appointment of the chair through the Lions Eye Institute and Curtin University will greatly enhance Western Australia’s international competitiveness in artificial intelligence, image analysis and computing involving large medical data sets.
Professor Andrew Turpin has been appointed as the inaugural Lions Curtin Chair in Ophthalmic Big Data.
Professor Turpin is a world leader in data science and analysis and is currently Director of the Melbourne Data Analysis Platform (MDAP) and Senior Academic Coordinator of the Petascale Campus Initiative at the University of Melbourne. He will begin his new role in Perth in November this year.
The Lions Curtin Chair in Ophthalmic Big Data has been established by the Lions Eye Institute and Curtin University with the support of the Lions Save-Sight Foundation WA Inc (LSSFWA), to improve leadership and research in ophthalmic big data. The Chair will be based on experience in computer science, image analysis and computing with large data sets, including data interpretation assisted by artificial intelligence methods. The position is jointly funded by Curtin and LSSFWA.
Professor Bill Morgan, director general of the Lions Eye Institute, said the appointment would contribute to Western Australia’s growing reputation as a center of excellence in eye disease research.
“Professor Turpin will bring extensive experience that will further develop the work of the Institute and Curtin in artificial intelligence, image analysis, indigenous, rural and remote eye health and data linking,” Professor Morgan said. “It will help drive the research agenda and facilitate the translation of research knowledge into policy and practice.”
Professor Turpin’s research interests include computational problems in human vision, in particular the development of new techniques to diagnose and control glaucoma. Through his new role as a professor, he will conduct internationally competitive research, create new analytical capabilities in optometry and ophthalmology, support research and development of eye care systems that include comprehensive and related related data sets.
Professor Archie Clements, Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, said he was delighted to welcome Professor Turpin to Curtin University and Western Australia.
“Professor Turpin’s extensive academic leadership experience will be critical to driving data science research across the state, with a focus on eye health, an important area of need here in WA. Our partnership with the Lions Eye Institute has been incredibly exciting and we hope that Professor Turpin will take advantage of the momentum we have created in eye health research, ”said Professor Clements.
Professor Turpin said: “I look forward to the opportunities that the combined resources of the Lions Eye Institute, Curtin and Western Australia will offer to improve patient outcomes through data and computational techniques.”
The Lions Eye Institute and the University of Western Australia recently announced the appointment of the UWA Lions Eye Institute Chair in Optometry Research, Professor Allison McKendrick, while an international search is underway to fill the Ian Chair. Constable in Discovery and Translational Ophthalmic Science.