Dr Laura Downie is a clinician scientist who has gained international recognition for research excellence in ocular disease, with awards, highly cited papers, international speaking engagements and appointments to key professional bodies. She is a Professor and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow for research excellence in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Melbourne. She heads her own laboratory, the ‘Anterior Eye, Clinical Trials and Research Translation Unit’ and co-leads the FrontTear Research Centre with Dr Holly Chinnery. Prof Downie is also Director of the inaugural Melbourne Cochrane Centre for Evidence-Based Vision Care, one of nine such centers recognised for excellence in leading the translation of high-quality research evidence into eye care practice. Prof Downie’s research combines laboratory, clinical, and implementation science as a foundation for improving patient outcomes, with a focus on the anterior eye. She has attracted Chief Investigator research funding from diverse sources, including the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australian Research Council (ARC), Macular Disease Foundation of Australia and Rebecca L Cooper Medical Foundation and industry.

Prof Downie graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Optometry in 2003, and completed her PhD, focusing on vascular, neuronal, and glial cell changes in retinopathy of prematurity, at the same institution in 2008. She has undertaken post-graduate training in evidence synthesis and evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford (UK), and completed the Women's Executive Leadership program at the Hass School of Business, UC Berkeley (US). Her research expertise spans ocular biomarkers and diagnostics, evidence-based medicine, clinical trials and systematic reviews. She has acted as Principal Investigator (PI) for >15 clinical trials (Phase I to IV) over the past decade.

A/Prof Downie has authored >135 peer-reviewed papers, and has received several prestigious awards, including the ATSE David and Valerie Solomon Award (2002), American Academy of Ophthalmology Secretariat Award (2021) and Irvin M and Beatrice Borish Award from the American Academy of Optometry (2014). She has served as a Chair on national and international expert panels, including the Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society International Workshops (a global initiative to develop a consensus on eye care practices) and British Contact Lens Associate CLEAR Initiative, standards committees, industry advisory boards and community and professional committees. She is an editorial board member on several journals, including Ophthalmology and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.