Associate Professor Nigel Barnett

Associate Professor Nigel Barnett studied at the University of Sheffield and University of Oxford, where he obtained his DPhil in 1995. Since moving to Australia in 1996, he has established a successful research career in the field of retinal neuroscience, with his main interest being retinal degenerative diseases. Nigel worked as a postdoctoral fellow and as an NHMRC RD Wright Fellow at the Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre (University of Queensland) until 2007. Before joining us in 2012 he was a Senior Research Fellow at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research.

He has developed productive on-going scientific collaborations with local prestigious scientists such as Professors Glen Gole and Steven Bottle, and with prominent national and international researchers. Nigel is continuing his research into the mechanisms underlying retinal degeneration in diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration at QEI.

In particular, he is investigating potential neuroprotective strategies to mitigate vision loss in these blinding conditions. Such strategies include novel antioxidant agents and extracts of silk proteins. Nigel holds Honorary/Adjunct positions at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, and is section editor on the Editorial Board of Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.