New Zealand's 2023 new RANZCO fellows (L-R) Drs Zac Prime, Sheng Chiong Hong, Kevin Dunne, Monika Pradhan, Dickson Wong and In-Jung Lee with Kiwi ophthalmology 'trainer of the year' Dr Alex Crawford (centre)

RANZCO 2023: accolades and awards

December 6, 2023 Staff reporters

Standing out from more than 1,490 in-person delegates (with a further 240 tuning in online) at this year’s RANZCO Congress in Perth were the 2023 new graduating fellows and many award winners.

Forty-six new fellows were admitted to the College at the Saturday night graduation awards ceremony, including six New Zealand fellows: Drs Zac Prime, Sheng Chiong Hong, Kevin Dunne, Monika Pradhan, Dickson Wong and In-Jung Lee. Other awards included:

2023 College Award winners

College Medals, recognising an individual’s outstanding service and contribution to the College – Professor Nitin Verma and Associate Professor Alex Hunyor
Distinguished Service Award, for outstanding contributions to the College, ophthalmology or the community – Drs Ross Littlewood and Richard Rawson
Distinguished Service Award for service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health – Professor Hugh Taylor
Federal Meritorious Service Award, national level recognition for long, outstanding service in ophthalmology publicly, academically, voluntarily or philanthropically, including services to the College or community – Professor Nigel Morlet

2023 trainers of excellence

Dr Krishna Tumuluri, NSW
Dr Tim Henderson, South Australia
Dr Alexandra Crawford, New Zealand
Dr Elsie Chan, Victoria
Dr Antony Clark, Western Australia
Dr Guy Bylsma, Tasmania
Dr Fraser Imrie, Queensland
Dr Kimberley Tan, NSW

A special mention was also given to A/Prof Andrew White from NSW, who also received many votes.

Other awards

The Filipic-Greer Medal, for overall excellence in the RANZCO ophthalmic pathology exam – Drs Shivesh Varma and Neeranjali Jain
Best ophthalmic surgery film, DMEK – Drs Rachel Xuan and Sheng Chiong Hong
Best non-surgical film, Through green coloured lenses: a sustainable vision for cataract surgery – Dr Tess Ryan
Best paper (trainee), the John Parr Trophy, Genotype-phenotype correlation in PRPH2-associated retinopathy – Dr Rachael Heath Jeffery
Best paper (fellow), the Gerard Crock Trophy, Applying glaucoma polygenic risk scores in the clinical setting to assist decision making – Prof Jamie Craig
Best poster, ‘The range of intravitreal injection practices in Australia and New Zealand’ – Dr Matt Lee
Best sustainability prize, ‘Salvageable waste associated with intravitreal injections: a local medical waste management approach’ – Dr Thomas Rogerson