I am a medical microbiologist who has worked for many years in the area of infections of medical devices. My laboratory focuses on development of novel antimicrobials that have applications as antibiotics and disinfectants. We also develop new antimicrobial coatings that can be used for a variety of purposes, including coating of medical devices to reduce associated infections. We have taken several of these through to pre-clinical testing, and antimicrobial contact lenses through to Phase III clinical trials. My laboratory also focusses on the microbiome of the eye and protists that infect the eye (e.g. Acanthamoeba sp.). We have established robust protocols to examine the low biomass microbiome of the ocular surface that can easily be translated for the analysis of other low biomass microbiomes. Within the area of contact lens research, we focus on understanding the aetiology of adverse events and comfort during contact lens wear. Our research includes adhesion and biofilm formation of ocular pathogenic microbes (most notably Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus). This research involves the study of microbial pathogenesis, and mammalian tissue responses to microbes and biomaterials. We have established several animal and cell-based models for studying contact lens adverse events and biomaterial infections. Our research has also encompassed proteomic and lipidomic studies of the tear film and its interaction with contact lenses. We have applied new techniques that allow the quantification individual proteins and lipids that adsorb onto contact lenses, or are biomarkers for changes to the ocular surface. This allows researchers, for the first time, to be able to assess the contribution of particular proteins or lipids to the production of adverse responses during lens wear. We have also investigated the use of tears as the source of biomarkers for diabetes, breast and prostate cancer. These research studies have led to the publication of 15 patents and over 550 peer reviewed papers.
Our currently funded projects include Government grants (NHMRC and ARC) investigating antimicrobial biomaterials and novel antimicrobials. We work closely with industry to provide potential new products, testing facilities, clinical trials and laboratory and clinical training.
Education
DSc in ocular surface research (University of New South Wales, 2015)
PhD in Medical Microbiology/Dentistry (University of Manchester, 1987)
BSc Hons in Applied Biology (University of the West of England, 1983)
My Grants
2020-2024: NHMRC Ideas grant "Tackling Hospital Acquired Infections with Peptide Mimics" APP1183597. M Willcox, N Kumar, C Boyer, E Wong, D McKenzie, N Suchowerska, K Vickery, R Chen
2018-2021: ARC Discovery grant "New scaffolds for antimicrobial discovery. DP180100845. N Kumar, D Black, M Willcox
2019-2022: ARC Discovery grant "Do sex steroids regulate tear lipid production in human meibomian glands? DP190103045. B 2021 Golebiowski, F Stapleton, M Madigan, M Willcox, D Sullivan
My Qualifications
DSc in ocular surface research (University of New South Wales, 2015)
PhD in Medical Microbiology/Dentistry (University of Manchester, 1987)
BSc Hons in Applied Biology (University of the West of England, 1983)
My Awards
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS AND SERVICE POSITIONS
Director of Research at the School of Optometry and Vision Science
Past President of the International Society for Contact Lens Research
Treasurer - Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society
Member of the Scientific Advisory Board – Ophtecs Corporation
Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry
Fellow of the British Contact Lens Association
Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology
Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
1993 Honorary Research Fellow, Institute of Dental Research, Westmead Hospital, Australia
1999 Outstanding Achievement, Cornea and Contact Lens Research Unit, School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales
2006 Distinguished Research on Cornea and Contact Lens, University of Houston College of Optometry, Houston, USA
2008 Fellow of the British Contact Lens Association (FBCLA)
2009 Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence - Postgraduate Supervision
2010 Member of Australian Society for Microbiology
2010 Major Contributor Award, Optometry Giving Sight
2011 British Contact Lens Association Medal recipient
2011 Max Schapero Award recipient, American Academy of Optometry
2011 Distinguished Service Award, Cornea and Contact Lens Society of Australia
2011 Fellow of the American Association of Optometry (FAAO)
2012 Australia-India Senior Visiting Fellowship from Australian Academy of Science
2012 Member of the American Association of Optometry Presidents Circle
2013 Member of Scientific Advisory Board of TFOS
2013 Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology
2013 Research Director, School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW
2013 Member of Board of Directors and Treasurer, Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society
2014 Member of Scientific Advisory Board, Ophtecs, Japan
2014 Associate Dean Research Training, Faculty of Science, University of New South Wales
2015 Elected as ARVO Silver Fellow
2015 DSc, UNSW
2016 Member of the Presbyopia Advisory Board, Allergan inc.
2016 J Lloyd Hewett Award for the most meritorious paper published by Clin Exp Optom.
2017 BCLA Dallos Award for project entitled “The eyelid and its role in contact lens discomfort.”
2017 H Barry Collin Medal – Optometry Australia
2019 School of Optometry and Vision Science Research Award
2020 Korb Award for Excellence - American Optometric Association Contact Lens Cornea Section
2020 NHMRC Marshall and Warren Ideas Grant Award for the highest scoring Ideas grant.
2020 Vision Care Section Awards Committee Chair, American Public Health Association. 2020 VCS Outstanding Scientific Paper/Project Award for published papers related to the COVID-19 pandemic: The Ocular Surface, Coronaviruses and COVID-19 and The COVID-19 pandemic: Important considerations for contact lens practitioners.
2020 Research Supervisor Award. The Arc Postgraduate Council, UNSW.
2020 Faculty of Science Research Excellence Award
2020 Elected ARVO Gold Fellowship
2021 Adjunct Professorship awarded by University of Waterloo, Canada
My Research Activities
My Research Goals:
Design of novel antimicrobials for use as antibiotics and disinfectants
Design and testing of novel antimicrobial surfaces for medical devices, from laboratory through pre-clinical to clinical testing
Evaluation of the contribution of the ocular microbiome to ocular surface homeostasis
Discovery of biomarkers of human disease from tears
Understanding changes to tears during contact lens wear and impact of ocular health and comfort
Assessing microbial and mammalian responses during keratitis
Research in Detail
My group currently consists of seven post-doctoral researchers and ten graduate students, working on projects ranging from:
Development of antimicrobial surfaces for medical devices
Research, development and clinical trials of contact lenses and lens cases
The microbiome of the ocular surface
Development of new therapies for dry eye and contact lens discomfort
Testing of new disinfecting agents
Current Student Projects
Pathogenic Traits of S.aureus Associated with Keratitis
Novel antimicrobial strategies for implantable and non-implantable devices
Nanodiagnosis of Eye Infections
Investigation on the association between the Acanthamoeba genotypes and severity of the corneal infection
Design, synthesis and testing of novel RNA polymerase inhibitors, as anti-bacterial agents
Development of Biologically Responsive Biomaterials Against Bacterial Colonisation
In vivo labelling and bioimaging of the tear film phospholipids using silicon quantum dots
Development of contact lenses that can deliver effective doses of atropine to the eye to control the development of myopia
Antimicrobial coatings and biomaterials
Efficacy of disinfectants and novel antimicrobials against coronaviruses
Engineering peptides for antimicrobial applications
Ameliorative effect of Sitagliptin and Celery Seeds extract (Ajwain) in Alloxan induced diabetic rats
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
Development of peptide mimics as antimicrobial surface coatings
RNA-seq analysis of the ocular surface
Development quantum dots to analyse the tear film
Staphylococcus aureus antibiotic resistance – phenotypic and genotypic analyses
Pseudomonas aeruginosa antibiotic resistance – phenotypic and genotypic analyses
New ways of visualising Acanthamoeba sp.
Development of new antibiotics
Currently supervising
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Tsz Tin Yu
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Madeeha Afzal
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Sudip Chakraborty
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Hari Kumar Peguda
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Binod Rayamajhee
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Robert Rourke
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Manjulatha Sara
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Shyam Kumar Mishra Baishnab
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Sidra Sarwat
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Md Abdullah Aziz
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Sandy Yang
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Mst Umme Laila Urmi
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George Enninful
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Samea Khan
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My Teaching
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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3842-7563