Professor Brendan Vote graduated in Medicine from University of Queensland in 1990 then undertook his internship and junior medical officer training at Launceston General Hospital in 1991 and 1992, where he met his wife Michelle. Dr Vote was a medical officer in the Royal Australian Air Force for six years including 18 months as Senior Medical Officer in Butterworth, Malaysia and from there relocated to Dunedin, New Zealand for his ophthalmology training.  Dr Vote’s passion for research and teaching were nurtured at University of Otago in Dunedin, under the mentorship of Professor Antony Molteno and Associate Professor Gordon Sanderson. While in Dunedin his two sons Joshua and Benjamin were born. Dr Vote continued his academic research passion becoming the inaugural vitreoretinal fellow at Auckland University.  Auckland was the first of three subspecialist vitreoretinal fellowships – followed by Brighton, UK; and at Moorfield’s Eye Hospital, London before returning to Tasmania in 2004 where he provides services in vitreoretinal diseases, medical retina and cataract surgery (especially complex cataracts).

He is Clinical Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Tasmania and has published more than 100 peer review publications and 2 educational CD’s.  Prof. Vote established in 2008 a public benevolent institute status charity - Tasmanian Eye Institute, pursuing his passion for research and education and community service in Ophthalmology.  He is involved in Multicentre International and Australian clinical trials assessing intravitreal therapies in diabetic maculopathy, age-related macular degeneration and vascular occlusion. Professor Vote has also been evaluating long-term effectiveness of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy for the treatment of macular degeneration in a large cohort of patients treated now more than 10 years.  Prof. Vote has been an active researcher of Femtosecond laser in cataract surgery through the first prospective comparative cohort study commencing in 2012, and has now published over 25 papers in this field. Dr Vote maintain an active teaching role of both registrars and medical students – our future generation of eye surgeons and doctors, and was awarded RANZCO trainer of excellence in recognition of this role. Dr Vote continues to provide an active teaching role for the Dunedin RACE preparation course for final specialist exams in ophthalmology. Prof Vote and Tasmanian Eye Institute are also committed to developing a CRISPR gene therapy centre for Prof Alex Hewitt in Hobart.

 

Professor Vote stays active playing squash weekly along with crossfit training.  He enjoys fishing, travel and indoor skydiving.