An inspirational research scientist exploring dietary and lifestyle interventions into Australia\u2019s leading cause of blindness will be the recipient of the Blackmores Dr Paul Beaumont Research Fellowship.<\/p>\n
The Macular Degeneration Foundation has announced Dr Bamini Gopinath as the recipient of\u00a0the 2013-14 Blackmores Dr Paul Beaumont Research Fellowship.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an important fellowship dedicated to research into the dietary and lifestyle impacts on\u00a0macular degeneration,\u201d said Neal Mercado, Director of Blackmores Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr Gopinath\u2019s\u00a0work will contribute to our understanding of how this degenerative disease is prevented and\u00a0managed which will hopefully save the sight of those at risk.”<\/p>\n
The fellowship is valued at $100,000 over two years and is largely funded by Blackmores\u00a0Institute and the Blackmore Foundation with support from the Macular Degeneration\u00a0Foundation\u2019s research fund. Further contributions for the research are being provided by the\u00a0Westmead Millennium Institute and the National Heart Foundation.<\/p>\n
CEO of the MD Foundation, Julie Heraghty, stated: \u201cThis is really important research and the\u00a0MD Foundation is grateful for Blackmores\u2019 support in helping find reasons and answers for\u00a0this devastating disease.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Gopinath is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Vision Research, Westmead\u00a0Millennium Institute and will be working under the supervision of Professor Paul Mitchell, one\u00a0of the world\u2019s leading experts in Macular Degeneration.<\/p>\n
Her proposed research involves a\u00a0detailed analysis of the 15 year data from the landmark Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) to\u00a0improve knowledge of the nutritional and lifestyle risk and protective factors (particularly\u00a0dietary antioxidant and supplement intake, diet quality and food groups).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is expected to\u00a0help explain the causes of disease, improve early detection of people at risk of progression,\u00a0and facilitate new approaches to therapy.<\/p>\n
The assessment will include a comprehensive analysis of changes in behaviour in people\u00a0diagnosed with AMD in the initial BMES exams, a significant gap in existing knowledge.<\/p>\n
Dr Gopinath also intends to pool data with other leading international studies including the\u00a0Beaver Dam Eye Study and the Rotterdam Study, and conduct a meta-analysis to strengthen\u00a0statistical power and help confirm key risk or protective factors.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr Gopinath has a remarkable track record with over 70 research publications in the last five\u00a0years, more than half on which she was the lead author,\u201d said Neal Mercado.\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0delighted to support her continued research and look forward to the results of her work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Macular Degeneration\u00a0Macular Degeneration (MD) is a progressive, chronic disease of the macula (central retina) at\u00a0the back of the eye. This disease leads to a loss of central vision, affecting the\u00a0ability to read, drive, recognise faces and perform activities requiring detailed vision.<\/p>\n
Macular\u00a0Degeneration is a chronic disease with no cure. It is the leading cause of\u00a0blindness and serious vision loss in Australia, and is responsible for 50% of all blindness in\u00a0this country. 1 in 7 people over 50 have some evidence of the disease and the incidence\u00a0increases with age. It is also known as Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An inspirational research scientist exploring dietary and lifestyle interventions into Australia\u2019s leading cause of blindness will be the recipient of the Blackmores Dr Paul Beaumont Research Fellowship. The Macular Degeneration Foundation has announced Dr Bamini Gopinath as the recipient of\u00a0the 2013-14 Blackmores Dr Paul Beaumont Research Fellowship. \u201cThis is an important fellowship dedicated to research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2446,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2475","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}