We’re pleased to share that Dr Samantha Lee, senior research fellow at the Lions Eye Institute and the University of Western Australia, has been featured in the latest episode of Bench Side Story.
Dr Lee’s current research focuses on the choroid, which is responsible for supplying nutrients, blood, and oxygen to the retina. Factors like age, lifestyle, and genetics can disrupt the function of the choroid and consequently the retina, potentially leading to eye problems like myopia and macular degeneration.
Dr Lee’s research is being supported by the Western Australia Future Health Research and Innovation Fund (2024–27), Medical Research Future Fund (2025–27), Perth Eye Foundation (2024), and the Lions Eye Institute Strategic Funding (2024). Through her research, Dr Lee aims to uncover the specific causes of choroid dysfunction by studying research participants from a very young age and assessing choroidal changes over time. These insights could help combat choroidal degeneration, preserving the retina.
Dr Lee obtained her PhD in 2017 at the Queensland University of Technology and has since been working on the genetics and environmental causes of various eye diseases, with a focus on glaucoma and myopia. She has published 57 full-length scientific papers, and her work has been cited over 1,000 times. She serves on the Editorial Board for the journal BMC Ophthalmology and Scientific Reports, and on the Research Advisory Committee for the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia.
Source: Bench Side Story
