Clinical Trials Research Centre, Centre for Eye Research Australia

Research Overview

A/Prof Lyndell Lim, a Uveitis and Medical Retina Subspecialist, leads the Clinical Trials Research Unit at the Centre for Eye Research Australia. A/Prof Lim is largely involved in clinical studies, particularly in the field of uveitis and ocular immunology, and diabetic retinopathy. Her team runs both investigator initiated and sponsored clinical trials that aim to investigate new treatments in a variety of ophthalmic diseases.

Current projects include prospective randomised clinical trials in diabetic macular oedema, the major cause of visual loss in diabetic retinopathy, and chronic non-infectious uveitis, a form of blinding auto-immune disease of the eye.

Other Clinical Investigators within the Unit include Dr Sanjeewa Wickremasighe and Dr Suki Sandhu who are both Medical Retina Subspecialists. Their research focus is also in clinical ophthalmology in the fields of diabetic retinopathy and retinal vascular diseases.

Staff

Sanj Wickremasinghe, Clinical Investigator

Sukhi Sandhu, Clinical Investigator

Helen Ormandy, Clinical Trials Research Centre Manager

Kelly Mikunda, Executive Assistant

Tanya Pejnovic, Senior Study Coordinator

Roberta Cimetta, Study Coordinator

Thuy Chau, Study Coordinator

Sutha Sanmugasundram, Study Coordinator

Marios Constantinou, Senior Study Coordinator

Theona Nicolau, Study Coordinator

Sophie Rogers, Statistician

Collaborators

Professor Mark Gillies, Save Sight Institute/Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, NSW

A/Professor Samantha Fraser-Bell, Save Sight Institute/Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, NSW

Professor Peter McCluskey, Save Sight Institute/Sydney Eye Hospital, Sydney, NSW

Professor Doug Jabs, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, USA

Dr Nisha Acharaya, University of California San Francisco, California, USA

Dr James T Rosenbaum, Casey Eye Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA

Dr Friederike Mackensen, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

Dr John Kempen, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Professor Ian Wicks, WEHI

A/Professor Anthony Hall, Alfred Hospital, Victoria

A/Professor Andrew Symons, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria

Funding

NHMRC Early Career Fellowship

Sponsored Drug trials (Bayer, Allergan etc).

Research Outcomes

1.Morrison JL, Hodgson L, Lim LL, Al-Qureshi S. Diabetic Retinopathy in Pregnancy : a Review. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2016 Apr 7 [Epub ahead of print]

2.Lim LL, Morrison JL, Constantinou M, Rogers S, Sandhu SS, Wickremasinghe SS, Kawasaki R, Al-Qureshi. DiMECat Trial : A Prospective, Randomised Clinical Trial of Intravitreous Bevacizumab vs. Triamcinolone in Patients with Diabetic Macular Oedema at the Time of Cataract Surgery – Preliminary 6 Month Results. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2016 Feb 12 [Epub ahead of print]

3.Fraser-Bell S, Lim LL, Campain A, Mehta H, Aroney C, Bryant J, Li J, Quin GJ, McAllister IL, Gilles MC. Bevacizumab or Dexamethasone implants for DME: 2-year results (The BEVORDEX Study). Am Academy of Ophthalmology. 2016 Jan [Epub ahead of print]

4.Goldberg GL, Cornish AL, Murphy J, Pang ES, Lim LL, Campbell IK, Scalzo-Inguanti K, Chen X, McMenamin PG, Maraskovsky E, McKenzie BS, Wicks IP. G-CSF and Neutrophils Are Nonredundant Mediators of Murine Experimental Autoimmune Uveoretinitis. Am J Pathol 2016 Jan; 186(1):172-84

5.Mehta H, Fraser-Bell S, Yeung A, Campain A, Lim LL, Quin GJ, McAllister IL, Keane PA, Gillies MC; Efficacy of dexamethasone versus bevacizumab on regression of hard exudates in diabetic maculopathy; data from the BEVORDEX randomized clinical trial. Br J Ophthalmol. 2015 Nov 4 [Epub ahead of print]

6.Fenwick EK, Xie J, Mann REK, Lim L, Flood VM, Finger RP, Wong TY and Lamoureux LL; Moderate consumption of white and fortified wine is associated with reduced odds of diabetic retinopathy. Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications 2015 Nov-Dec; 29(8):1009-14 [Epub 2015 Sept 4]

7.Guymer RH, Cipriani T, Rittenhouse KD, Lim LL, Robman L, Li W, Wang W, Deng S, Banerjee P; Plasma Levels of Amyloid Beta and Other Proinflammatory Mediators in Patients with Age Related Macular Degeneration. Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology. 2015 Aug; 253(8): 1347-54. Doi: 10.1007/s00417-01502970-x

8.Robinson PC, Claushuis TA, Cortes A, Martin TM, Evans DM, Leo P, Mukhopadhyay P, Bradbury LA, Cremin K, Harris J, Maksymowych WP, Inman RD, Rahman P, Haroon N, Gensler L, Powell JE, van der Horst-Bruinsma IE, Hewitt AW, Craig JE, Lim LL, Wakefield D, McCluskey P, Voigt V, Fleming P; Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada, Australio-Anglo-American Spondylitis Consortium, International Genetics of Ankylosing Spondylitis Consortium, Wellcome Trust Case Control Study 2, Degli-Esposti M, Pointon JJ, Weisman MH, Wordsworth BP, Reveille JD, Rosenbaum JT, Brown MA. Genetic dissection of acute anterior uveitis reveals similarities and differences in associations observed with ankylosing spondylitis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015 Jan;67(1):140-51. doi: 10.1002/art.38873

9.Suhler EB, Lim LL, Beardsley RM, Giles TR, Pasadhika S, Lee ST, de Saint Sardos A, Butler NJ, Smith JR, Rosenbaum JT. Rituximab Therapy for Refractory Scleritis: Results of a Phase I/II Dose-Ranging, Randomized, Clinical Trial. Ophthalmology. 2014 Oct;121(10):1885-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2014.04.044. [Epub 2014 Jun 20]

10.Suhler EB, Lim LL, Beardsley RM, Giles TR, Pasadhika S, Lee ST, de Saint Sardos A, Butler NJ, Smith JR, Rosenbaum JT. Rituximab Therapy for Refractory Orbital Inflammation: Results of a Phase 1/2, Dose-Ranging, Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2014 May;132(5):572-8

Research Publications

1.Gillies MC, Lim LL, Campain A, Quin GJ, Salem W, Li J, Goodwin S, Aroney C, McAllister IL & Fraser-Bell S. A randomized clinical trial of intravitreal bevacizumab versus intravitreal dexamethasone for diabetic macular edema: the BEVORDEX study. Ophthalmology 2014;121(12):2473-81.

2.Suhler EB, Lim LL, Beardsley RM, Giles TR, Pasadhika S, Lee ST, de Saint Sardos A, Butler NJ, Smith JR & Rosenbaum JT. Rituximab Therapy for Refractory Scleritis: Results of a Phase I/II Dose-Ranging, Randomized, Clinical Trial. Ophthalmology 2014;121(10):1885-91.

3.Chiam NP, Hall AJ, Stawell RJ, Busiya L & Lim LL. The course of uveitis in pregnancy and postpartum. Br J Ophthalmol 2013;97:1284-1288.

4.Fenwick E, Lamoureux EL, Finger RP, Lim LL & Rees G. Patients’ causal beliefs about diabetic retinopathy. Optom Vis Sci. 2013; 90(8):874-882.

5.Fraser-Bell S, Lim LL, Campain A, Mehta H, Aroney C, Bryant J, Li J, Quin GJ, McAllister IL, Gillies MC. Bevacizumab or Dexamethasone Implants for DME: 2-year Results (The BEVORDEX Study). Ophthalmology 2016 Jan 9. [Epub ahead of print].

Research Projects

For project inquiries, contact our research group head.



Faculty Research Themes

Infection and Immunology

School Research Themes

Neuroscience & Psychiatry



Key Contact

For further information about this research, please contact Head, Clinical Trials Research Centre Associate Professor Lyndell Lim

Department / Centre

Surgery

Unit / Centre

Clinical Trials Research Centre, Centre for Eye Research Australia

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