Professor Lawrence Hirst
Cornea and External Diseases
MBBS Hons (Qld) MD (Qld) MPH (Hopkins) DO (Melb) FRANZCO, FRACS, Cert.Am.Bd.Ophth.

Lawrence Hirst was born in Brisbane in 1945 after his parents emigrated from Austria. He was subsequently raised in a fiercely proAustralian environment, because it was the land that had offered his family shelter and a future when there had been none.

Lawrence Hirst was educated at Brisbane Grammar School, and in his final year was scholastically ranked seventeenth in Queensland out of four thousand students. He graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland in 1969 with a MBBS (First class Honours). Since then his career has become a list of high achievements at some of the finest medical institutions in the United States of America and in Australia.

Professor Hirst's clinical achievements are well-known and include:-

Corneoscleral Grafts: used in patients with severe infections of the front of the eye, many of them referred to Professor Hirst for removal of the eye, but in some cases Professor Hirst has been able to stabilize the condition to the point of non-removal and in several cases has been able te retain the patient's vision by surgical replacement of the front of the eye.

Pterygium: new method for removal of pterygium which has resulted in only few recurrences and a good cosmetic appearance.

Tissue adhesive:new techniques for the application of tissue adhesives in perforated eyes have been introduced by Professor Hirst. This has saved eyes in elderly patients, who previously would have lost their eyes because of infection.

If you wish to make an appointment to see Professor Hirst please call 3010 3360.

Dr. Anthony Pane
Eye Disease and Surgery
Neuro-Ophthalmology
MBBS Hons (Qld), MMedSc, FRANZCO

Dr Pane is a University of Queensland graduate who undertook his eye specialist training in the Brisbane hospitals.  In 2004 he returned from three years advanced training in the United Kingdom to join the Queensland Eye Institute.

Although Dr Pane's practice covers general adult ophthalmology, including cataract surgery, his special clinical and research interest is in neuro-ophthalmology.  This is the branch of ophthalmology dealing with diseases of the brain and nerves which can cause blurred vision, double vision, or abnormal eye movements.

One of Dr Pane's key interests is in improving outcomes for patients by developing a method for ophthalmologists to detect and diagnose serious causes of optic nerve disease earlier and more accurately.  He is currently pursuing his PhD in this area.

Dr Pane has recently written two practical textbooks of ophthalmology which have been published internationally.  His third book, on neuro-ophthalmology, will be published later this year.

Director of Teaching at the Queensland Eye Institute and Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the University of Queensland, Dr Pane enjoys teaching trainee ophthalmologists and medical students.

If you wish to make an appointment to see Dr Pane please call 3010 3362.

Dr. Anthony Kwan
Vitreoretinal surgeon - surgical and medical retinal diseases

MBChB (UK), MD (London), FRCOphth (UK), FRANZCO

Dr Kwan was educated and obtained his medical degree in the UK.  He started his ophthalmology training and joined the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1995.  After he obtained his fellowship from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (UK) he spent over two years in retinal basic science research at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London.  He obtained a higher degree (Doctor of Medicine) with his thesis on "Retinal transplantation in retinal degeneration".  During this period he was an honorary medical retinal fellow to Professor Alan Bird and Dr Zdenek Gregor at Moorfields.

In 2004, after he finished his ophthalmology residency programme at Moorfields, he undertook a 12 month retinal fellowship with Associate Professor Ian McAllister and Dr Tim Isaacs at Royal Perth Hospital and the Lions Eye Institute, Western Australia.  He returned to London in 2005 and completed 18 months of vitreoretinal fellowship at Moorfields.  His special interests include diabetic eye disease, retinal vascular disease and macular degeneration.  

If you wish to make an appointment to see Dr Kwan please call 3010 3397.