Associate Professor Fred Chen is a retinal specialist with expertise in inherited retinal diseases, macular degeneration, autoimmune retinopathy, retinal detachment repair, complex lens surgery and penetrating eye injuries. He works at the Lions Eye Institute, Royal Perth Hospital and Perth Children’s Hospital and is a clinician academic who established and leads the Lions Eye Institute’s Ocular Tissue Engineering Laboratory. He is the Director of Research for the Lions Eye Institute and a Co-Editor-in-Chief for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.
Associate Professor Chen has published over 300 research papers and reviews. He has several national and international collaborations in inherited retinal diseases research programmes. He is internationally recognised for the co-invention of VP-001 for the treatment of PRPF31-related retinitis pigmentosa. He and his team have published novel findings on common and rare inherited retinal diseases genes, including ABCA4, PRPH2, PRPF31, CRB1, RCBTB1, USH2A and MYO7A. He has trained over 30 fellows in medical and surgical retina and supervised 10 PhD students to completion.
Areas of clinical specialty
- Retinal detachment repair
- Macular hole repair
- Epiretinal membrane peel
- Cataract and dislocated lens surgery
- Treatment of dry and wet macular degeneration
- Inherited retinal diseases, including Stargardt disease, retinitis pigmentosa, achromatopsia, cone dystrophy and pattern dystrophy
- Ocular toxicity of systemic treatment including plaquenil and chemotherapy
- Autoimmune retinopathy
- Clinical trials of new drugs
Research interests
- Dry and wet macular degeneration
- Inherited retinal diseases and national registry
- Stem cells, including iPSC and retinal organoid disease modelling
- High resolution retinal imaging
- Retinal image analysis using deep learning neural network
- Clinical applications of retina-tracking microperimetry
- Clinical audit using electronic medical records and national registry
- Detection of eye melanoma tumour cells in the blood
Awards/Professional Achievements
- Research funding from: philanthropic donations, NH&MRC Project Grant, CRE and Early Career Research Fellowship (2013-2016), Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia, Retina Australia, Honda Foundation, Viertel Charitable Foundation, The University of Western Australia, Health Department of Western Australia, Australian Foundation for Prevention of Blindness Trust, The Lions Club, Lions Eye Institute
- Head of Ocular Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Lions Eye Institute (2011-)
- Author of a book chapter “Vitreoretinal Surgery” in Oxford Specialty Training: Training in Ophthalmology, The Essential Clinical Curriculum. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009 and 2016
- More than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles
- More than 50 national and international conference abstracts
- Reviewer for Retina, Ophthalmology, IOVS, Clinical Experimental Ophthalmology, Eye, ORIA and NH&MRC
- Schneider Prize for Interns Award (1999) Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
Further Key Experience
- PhD in surgical techniques of retinal pigment epithelium transplantation for treatment of retinal diseases, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology (2011)
- Medical Retina Fellowship, Moorfields Eye Hospital (2010)
- Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellowship, Moorfields Eye Hospital (2007-2009)
Professional memberships
- Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
- Asia Pacific Vitreo Retina Society
- Asia Pacific Ocular Imaging Society
- The American Society of Retinal Specialists
- Australian and New Zealand Society of Retinal Specialists
- Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research
- Australian Medical Association
- Medical Defence Australia National
- Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists
- Governance Institute of Australia (Cert)
- Centre for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine
Current hospital/university affiliations
- Ophthalmology Consultant, Vitreoretinal Surgery, Royal Perth Hospital
- Visiting Consultant Ophthalmologist, Perth Children’s Hospital
- Visiting Consultant Ophthalmologist, St John of God Hospital Subiaco, Western Australia
- Associate Professor / Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Ophthalmology and Visual Science, UWA
- Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, Victoria
- Centre for Eye Research Australia, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria
