About the NVRI

The National Vision Research Institute (NVRI) was founded in 1972 to pursue research in vision and the disorders of vision. Our goal is the preservation of sight and the prevention of blindness.

 
We are committed to exploring the processes that underlie the disorders of vision and our research embraces comprehensive studies of the fundamental mechanisms of normal vision. We devote the whole of our resources to research and are therefore able to study difficult problems that require intensive and co-ordinated investigation over a long period of time.

Over the years, Institute research programmes have encompassed a wide range of topics, ranging from clinical to basic. Their outcomes have included the creation of the famous LogMAR chart for assessment of visual acuity, improved understanding of vision disorders such as amblyopia, cataract, presbyopia, retinal dystrophy and the exploration of the way visual stimuli are transmitted to the brain.

The current research of the NVRI covers a wide range of topics including the development of a bionic eye to return sight to the profoundly blind, studies of retinal and cortical physiology and anatomy, and the study of how to achieve metabolic and circulatory retinal health throughout life.

The Institute is a division of the Australian College of Optometry. Lions International in Victoria are major supportors of research in the NVRI.