Flinders University eye researcher Professor Doug Coster has been awarded a $58,000 grant by the Ramaciotti Foundations to assist him in continuing his outstanding biomedical research.

Professor Coster was one of 24 recipients to share more than $1.6 million presented at the Ramaciotti Foundations’ annual awards held in Sydney on November 4.
 Research in the Department of Ophthalmology led by Professor Coster is aimed at identifying genetic causes for eye diseases including glaucoma and blindness in patients with diabetes.

“Receiving this grant will fund the purchase of equipment that enables us to assess multiple genes in thousands of patients simultaneously, vastly improving our ability to detect disease genes,” Professor Coster said.”

“Through identifying these genes we can better understand the causes of these diseases, as well as the influence of environmental factors, allowing us to develop predictive tests and new treatments to improve patient outcomes.”

The Ramaciotti Foundations are collectively one of the largest private contributors to biomedical research in Australia having granted more than $48.5 million to research projects since 1970, providing assistance to areas such as molecular biology, genetics and immunology, and assisting young investigators taking up new challenges in biomedical research.