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About
Professor Alex Hewitt
Head of Clinical Genetics
Professor Alex Hewitt is a clinician-scientist and leads Clinical Genetics research at CERA.
Professor Alex Hewitt
Head of Clinical Genetics
BMedSci (Hons), MBBS, PhD
Professor Alex Hewitt graduated from the University of Tasmania in 2001 and obtained his PhD investigating the molecular and phenotypic associations for open angle glaucoma from Flinders University of South Australia in 2009.
He completed formal ophthalmology training at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne in 2011. The following year he was the Novartis Research Fellow at the Lions Eye Institute and was awarded a WA Tall Poppy Award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science.
In 2016 and 2018, he received an NHMRC Research Excellence Awards for the top ranked Practitioner Fellowship application and Program Grant application, respectively. His clinics at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and Royal Children’s Hospital specialise in inherited eye diseases.
Key research questions
- Why do common and complex eye diseases develop? What are the molecular underpinnings to these diseases?
- How can emerging biotechnologies be best used to treat inherited blinding disease?
Current projects
Selected publications
My team
Key collaborators
Funding and support
Current projects
- Single cell transcriptomic profiling to better understand the molecular drivers of glaucoma
- Applications of gene editing technology to treat mitochondrial diseases
- Genetic Risk Profiling for glaucoma and macular degeneration
Selected publications
Hysi PG, Choquet H, Khawaja AP, Wojciechowski R, Tedja MS, Yin J, Simcoe MJ, Patasova K, Mahroo OA, Thai KK, Cumberland PM, Melles RB, Verhoeven VJM, Vitart V, Segre A, Stone RA, Wareham N, Hewitt AW, Mackey DA, Klaver CCW, MacGregor S; Consortium for Refractive Error and Myopia, Khaw PT, Foster PJ; UK Eye and Vision Consortium, Guggenheim JA; 23andMe Inc., Rahi JS, Jorgenson E, Hammond CJ. Meta-analysis of 542,934 subjects of European ancestry identifies new genes and mechanisms predisposing to refractive error and myopia. Version 2. Nat Genet. 2020 Apr;52(4):401-407. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-0599-0
MacGregor S, Ong JS, An J, Han X, Zhou T, Siggs OM, Law MH, Souzeau E, Sharma S, Lynn DJ, Beesley J, Sheldrick B, Mills RA, Landers J, Ruddle JB, Graham SL, Healey PR, White AJR, Casson RJ, Best S, Grigg JR, Goldberg I, Powell JE, Whiteman DC, Radford-Smith GL, Martin NG, Montgomery GW, Burdon KP, Mackey DA, Gharahkhani P, Craig JE, Hewitt AW. Genome-wide association study of intraocular pressure uncovers new pathways to glaucoma. Nat Genet. 2018 Aug;50(8):1067-1071. doi: 10.1038/s41588-018-0176-y.
Hung SSC, McCaughey T, Swann O, Pébay A, Hewitt AW. Genome engineering in ophthalmology: Application of CRISPR/Cas to the treatment of eye disease. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2016 Jul;53:1-20. DOI: 10.1016/j.preteyeres.2016.05.001
McCaughey T, et al. A Global Social Media Survey of Attitudes to Human Genome Editing. Cell Stem Cell. 2016. PMID: 27152441. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2016.04.011
McCaughey T, et al. An Interactive Multimedia Approach to Improving Informed Consent for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research. Cell Stem Cell. 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2016.02.006
See more publications
My team
Key collaborators
- Prof Jamie Craig – FUSA
- Prof David Mackey – UWA/Lions Eye Institute
- Prof Stuart MacGregor – QIMR Berghofer
- Prof Alice Pébay – University of Melbourne
- A/Prof Joseph Powell – Garvan
- A/Prof Tony Cook – University of Tasmania
Funding and support
Thank you to the following organisations for their support:
- National Health and Medical Research Council
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