An Auckland bioengineer has made research into screening for eye diseases his life’s obsession in honor of his father who went blind as a boy.
Dr Ehsan Vaghefi of the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences is behind the innovative MyIScope device that has just received nearly $1m in funding in the 2018 round of the Endeavor Fund, New Zealand’s largest contestable research fund.
“My father went blind when he was only 9 years old, due to an undetected eye disease, called juvenile glaucoma. Back then (60 years ago) they did not have the technology to screen and diagnose this condition, and blindness was unavoidable for the children who suffered from this disease.”