New Zealand's 2023 new RANZCO fellows (L-R) Drs Zac Prime, Sheng Chiong Hong, Kevin Dunne, Monika Pradhan, Dickson Wong and In-Jung Lee with Kiwi ophthalmology 'trainer of the year' Dr Alex Crawford (centre)

Standing out from more than 1,490 in-person delegates (with a further 240 tuning in online) at this year’s RANZCO Congress in Perth were the 2023 new graduating fellows and many award winners.

Forty-six new fellows were admitted to the College at the Saturday night graduation awards ceremony, including six New Zealand fellows: Drs Zac Prime, Sheng Chiong Hong, Kevin Dunne, Monika Pradhan, Dickson Wong and In-Jung Lee. Other awards included:

2023 College Award winners

• College Medals, recognising an individual’s outstanding service and contribution to the College – Professor Nitin Verma and Associate Professor Alex Hunyor
• Distinguished Service Award, for outstanding contributions to the College, ophthalmology or the community – Drs Ross Littlewood and Richard Rawson
• Distinguished Service Award for service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health – Professor Hugh Taylor
• Federal Meritorious Service Award, national level recognition for long, outstanding service in ophthalmology publicly, academically, voluntarily or philanthropically, including services to the College or community – Professor Nigel Morlet

2023 trainers of excellence

• Dr Krishna Tumuluri, NSW
• Dr Tim Henderson, South Australia
• Dr Alexandra Crawford, New Zealand
• Dr Elsie Chan, Victoria
• Dr Antony Clark, Western Australia
• Dr Guy Bylsma, Tasmania
• Dr Fraser Imrie, Queensland
• Dr Kimberley Tan, NSW

A special mention was also given to A/Prof Andrew White from NSW, who also received many votes.

Best ophthalmic surgery film winners Drs
Rachel Xuan and Sheng Chiong Hong

Other awards

• The Filipic-Greer Medal, for overall excellence in the RANZCO ophthalmic pathology exam – Drs Shivesh Varma and Neeranjali Jain
• Best ophthalmic surgery film, DMEK – Drs Rachel Xuan and Sheng Chiong Hong
• Best non-surgical film, Through green coloured lenses: a sustainable vision for cataract surgery – Dr Tess Ryan
• Best paper (trainee), the John Parr Trophy, Genotype-phenotype correlation in PRPH2-associated retinopathy – Dr Rachael Heath Jeffery
• Best paper (fellow), the Gerard Crock Trophy, Applying glaucoma polygenic risk scores in the clinical setting to assist decision making – Prof Jamie Craig
• Best poster, ‘The range of intravitreal injection practices in Australia and New Zealand’ – Dr Matt Lee
• Best sustainability prize, ‘Salvageable waste associated with intravitreal injections: a local medical waste management approach’ – Dr Thomas Rogerson