Prof Damien Harkin is a Professor at the Centre for Vision and Eye Research, Queensland University of Technology, Queensland, Australia. He is an experienced teacher and medical researcher, in the areas of human structure, function and disease His main area of research focus for the last 20 years has been the development of cell and tissue therapies for the treatment of common and severe eye diseases. This research has been supported by over $3M dollars in research funding and has led to over 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Professor Harkin received his BSc and PhD (Pathology) from the University of Adelaide (1993) before completing postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (1994-1996) and the University of Melbourne (1997). He commenced working at QUT as a lecturer in 2001 and was promoted to Professor in 2016. Professor Harkin also holds honorary positions at the Queensland Eye Institute (since 2005) and Australian Red Cross LifeBlood (since 2020). Dr Katelyn Swindle-Reilly is an Associate Professor and College of Engineering Innovation Scholar, The Ohio State University, Ohio, USA. She is tenured faculty with appointments in Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at The Ohio State University. She has degrees in Chemical Engineering, with a B.S. from Georgia Institute of Technology, and M.S. and Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis. She has managed multiple research projects from initial research phase through manufacturing and regulatory approval, including serving as Chief Technology Officer of an ophthalmic startup company. Dr. Swindle-Reilly’s research lab focuses on the design of polymeric biomaterials for soft tissue repair and drug delivery with focused applications in ophthalmology. Dr. Ramesh Ayyala, MD, FRCS, FRCOphth is a world-renowned ophthalmologist and is the Professor and Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA, where he also holds the James P. and Heather Gills Chair in Ophthalmology. Prior to USF, Dr. Ayyala was a tenured professor of ophthalmology, director of the glaucoma service, and residency/fellowship director at Tulane University. He is a graduate of Gandhi Medical College, Osmania University in Hyderabad. He received his residency training in ophthalmology at Mersey Region Hospitals, United Kingdom (UK), and at USF, Tampa, FL. Dr. Ayyala completed his glaucoma fellowship at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School and his cornea/external disease fellowship at Boston University Medical Center. Dr. Ayyala is board certified on three continents (India, UK and USA), a fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmology (Lon) and the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh), and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. He is a past president of the Louisiana Academy of Eye Physicians and Surgeons.
