8 June 2026
The Lions Eye Institute is delighted to congratulate two of its own, Professor Bill Morgan and Professor Mariapia Degli-Esposti, who have both been recognised in the 2026 King’s Birthday Honours.
The honours celebrate decades of dedication to medical research, patient care, and education — and reflect the calibre of people who choose to work at the Lions Eye Institute.
Professor Bill Morgan AO
The Lions Eye Institute is proud to celebrate Professor Bill Morgan receiving an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the King’s Birthday Honours — recognition that reflects not just a distinguished career, but a life genuinely dedicated to a world without blindness. Professor Morgan has built his career on three pillars: exceptional clinical care, medical research and community — believing each serves the other in driving innovation and improved outcomes for patients facing vision loss. He is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Western Australia, Consultant Ophthalmologist at Royal Perth Hospital, and Co-Director of the Lions Eye Institute’s McCusker Glaucoma Centre.
Professor Morgan’s most transformative contribution to global eye health has been his role as co-inventor of the XEN® Glaucoma Gel Stent, developed alongside fellow Lions Eye Institute researchers over two decades. The XEN® Gel Stent is a microfistula implant that reduces intraocular pressure in the eye and is now helping thousands of glaucoma patients all over the world. That spirit of innovation extended to our closest neighbours: in collaboration with Jakarta-based ophthalmologist Dr Virna Dwi Oktariana, Professor Morgan co-developed the Virna Glaucoma Drainage Device — an affordable glaucoma drainage solution now manufactured and used across Indonesia, bringing sight-saving surgery within reach of patients who previously had none.
Professor Morgan’s ambitions for saving sight have never been confined by geography. As Chair of the John Fawcett Foundation Australian Board, he has been teaching clinical and surgical techniques in Indonesia for over 20 years, working to build lasting ophthalmic capacity in some of the country’s most underserved communities. Now, his sights are set even further: OcuLinx™, developed by Professor Morgan alongside Professors Dao-Yi Yu AM and Dr Anmar Abdul-Rahman, is a portable, non-invasive device that uses advanced image analysis, waveform analysis and artificial intelligence to measure intracranial pressure through the eye — with applications ranging from serious neurological conditions here on Earth to protecting the vision of astronauts in space. Commercialisation is targeted for 2027–28.
“From a Perth laboratory to operating theatres across Indonesia and one day even to astronauts in space — few surgeons anywhere have matched Bill’s rare blend of brilliance and generosity or done more to keep the world from losing its sight. A richly deserved honour, and knowing Bill, he’s only just getting started,” says Dr Glen Power, Managing Director of the Lions Eye Institute.
Professor Mariapia Degli-Esposti AM
The Lions Eye Institute is immensely proud to celebrate Professor Mariapia Degli-Esposti receiving a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the King’s Birthday Honours — a recognition that speaks to a career of extraordinary scientific rigour and human impact. Professor Degli-Esposti’s research focuses on understanding the regulation of complex immune responses, including those that affect the eye, with dysregulated immunity and inflammation playing key roles in diseases including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and uveitis. A Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, she has been a cornerstone of the LEI since 2003 and holds a dual appointment as Head of Experimental Immunology at the LEI and Professor at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.
Professor Degli-Esposti’s research has produced discoveries that are reshaping medicine far beyond the eye. Her team’s landmark work on cytomegalovirus — a life-threatening infection for bone marrow and organ transplant patients — was published in the prestigious journal Science and won the 2019 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for Scientific Research, one of Australia’s highest science honours. More recently, her team made a discovery published in Nature that identified a molecule called CD44 as a central ‘traffic controller’ for immune cells — showing how viruses can sabotage immunity not by attacking immune cells directly, but by targeting the support network that guides them. The results point to powerful new therapeutic possibilities in cancer, autoimmune disease, and inflammatory conditions that affect vision.
What makes Professor Degli-Esposti’s story particularly meaningful for the Lions Eye Institute is that so much of it was built here in Perth. Her laboratory has elucidated novel interactions between components of the immune system and identified a previously unknown subset of natural killer cells that limit immune responses in tissues, preventing autoimmunity — findings that may ultimately lead to new treatments for Sjögren’s Syndrome and other chronic inflammatory conditions. Her work is a powerful demonstration of what the Lions Eye Institute has always believed: that world-class discovery research, conducted with curiosity and purpose, can reach far beyond the eye to benefit all of humankind.
“For more than 20 years, Mariapia has pursued the hardest questions in immunology with rare rigour and curiosity — and her answers are reshaping medicine far beyond the eye. She is a cornerstone of the Lions Eye Institute and one of the finest scientists this country has produced. Generations will benefit from what she has discovered,” says Dr Glen Power, Managing Director of the Lions Eye Institute.
A message from the Lions Eye Institute
“We are enormously proud to see Bill and Mariapia recognised in this way. These honours reflect not only their remarkable individual achievements, but the spirit of everyone at the Lions Eye Institute — a deep commitment to discovery, to outstanding patient care, and to improving lives. On behalf of all of us, I congratulate them both warmly and thank them for everything they continue to give to our community,” says Dr Glen Power, Managing Director of the Lions Eye Institute.
The Lions Eye Institute joins colleagues, patients and supporters in congratulating Professor Morgan and Professor Degli-Esposti on this well-deserved recognition.
