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About
Professor Mark Daniell
Head of Corneal Research
Professor Mark Daniell is an ophthalmic surgeon and leads CERA’s corneal research. He is working to develop a tissue-engineered cornea.
Professor Mark Daniell
Head of Corneal Research
MB BS, MS, FRANZCO, FRACS
Professor Mark Daniell is a senior consultant at Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, serving as Head of the Corneal Service since 2011, and overseeing a team of surgeons performing corneal transplantation for Victoria.
He has a significant research interest in a bioengineered cornea, developing the concepts for this project and being the driving force gathering together the collaboration partners.
He has had successful collaborations with numerous groups both nationally and internationally, including an ongoing project with Professor Greg Qiao at Melbourne University and Professor Damien Harkin at QUT on tissue engineering for the eye. He has supervised several postgraduate students in the field of tissue engineering.
Professor Daniell is the founding Chair of the ANZ Corneal Society and Medical Director of the Lions Eye Bank. Previously he was Head of Ophthalmology at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (2003-2011).
He is the immediate past President of RANZCO (2017-2018) and served on the RANZCO board for 12 years, with roles including Vice President and Treasurer. He was a director and member of the executive of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges for four years, and is currently a trustee on the International Council of Ophthalmology. He was Chair of the Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia from 2005 to 2011. He is President of the World Ophthalmology Congress in 2022.
He is an honorary Professor at Harbin University in China and visits LV Prasad in Hyderabad.
He is the founder of the Keratoconus International Consortium.
Professor Daniell has achieved over $6M in competitive grant funding, from AISRF, ORIA, NHMRC and University of Melbourne interdisciplinary grants as well Victorian Medical Research Accelerator Fund
Key research questions
- Can we develop a tissue-engineered cornea?
- Can we use stem cells to grow a cornea?
- How can you diagnose early keratoconus and predict who is likely to progress without intervention?
- What is the cellular basis of corneal graft rejection?
- What are the ethical Issues in transnational eye banking?
Current projects
Selected publications
My team
Key collaborators
Funding and support
Current projects
Development of a tissue engineered cornea
- Produce a novel hydrogel as a scaffold for cell growth and transfer into the eye
- Search for alternate cell sources for corneal transplants including use of iPSC transformed to corneal endothelial cells
- Identify novel markers for corneal stem cells using single cell RNA techniques
- Produce a novel material to assist in DMEK surgery (Hygelix)
- Investigate the role of Descemets stripping without transplantation in Fuchs Endothelial dystrophy
Leading the Keratoconus International Consortium
- Use AI to assist diagnosis and disease progression in keratoconus
- Understand the fundamental causes and risk factors for keratoconus
Investigating the cellular basis of corneal graft rejection
Analysis of ethical Issues in Transnational Eye Banking
Selected publications
“Biodegradable and biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogel films for the regeneration of corneal endothelium” (Ozelik, Brown, Blencowe, Ladewig , Stevens, Scheerlink, Abberton, Daniell M, Qiao G; Adv Healthc Mater. 2014 Sep;3(9):1496-507. DOI: 1002/adhm.201400045
Ultrathin chitosan-poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel films for corneal tissue engineering. Ozcelik B, Brown KD, Blencowe A, Daniell M, Stevens GW, Qiao G. Acta Biomater. 2013 May;9(5):6594-605. DOI: 1016/j.actbio.2013.01.020
Current status and future prospects for cultured limbal tissue transplants in Australia and New Zealand Harkin DG, Apel AJ, Di Girolamo N, Watson S, Brown K, Daniell MD, McGhee JJ, McGhee CN. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2013 Apr;41(3):272-81. DOI: 1111/j.1442-9071.2012.02877.x
“Plasma polymer coated contact lens for cultured corneal epithelium cell transfer for limbal stem cell deficiency”. (Brown, Low, Mariappan, Abberton, Short, Zhang, Maddileti, Sangwan, Steele, Daniell; Tissue Engineering Part A 2014 Feb;20(3-4):646-55.) DOI: 1089/ten.TEA.2013.0089
“Acrylic Acid Surface-Modified Contact Lens for the Culture of Limbal Stem Cells” (Zhang, Brown, Lowe, Lui, Steele, Abberton, Daniell; Tissue engineering. Part A 2014 Jun;20(11-12):1593-602. DOI: 1089/ten.TEA.2013.0320
See more publications
My team
- Dr Karl Brown – Research fellow
- Professor Paul Baird – Honorary Principal Investigator
- Dr Elsie Chan – Research Fellow
- Dr Elaine Chong – Senior Research Fellow
- Professor Greg Dusting – Research fellow
- Dr Srujana Sahebjada – Senior Research Fellow
- Fayaaz Baloch – PhD student
- Heather Machin – PhD student
Key collaborators
- Professor Greg Qiao
- Professor JP Scheerlinck
- Professor Damian Harkin
- Professor Gerard Sutton
Funding and support
Thank you to the following organisations for their support:
- NHMRC
- Victorian Government
- DHB Foundation
- ORIA
- Keratoconus Australia
- Impact Perpetual Philanthropic
- Angior Family Foundation
- Lions Eye Bank
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