Meet the Team

Professor Brendan 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.

Brendan 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.  Brendan 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.

Brendan's passion for research and teaching were nurtured at University of Otago in Dunedin, while in Dunedin his two sons Joshua and Benjamin were born.  Brendan continued his academic research passion becoming the inaugural vitreoretinal fellow at Auckland University.  

He is Clinical Professor in Ophthalmology at the University of Tasmania and has published more than 100 peer review publications.   He is involved in Multicentre International and Australian clinical trials assessing intravitreal therapies in diabetic maculopathy, age-related macular degeneration and vascular occlusion.   

Brendan maintains an active teaching role of both registrars and medical students – our future generation of eye surgeons and doctors.   

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

Jennie has been on the board of directors for Tasmanian Eye Institute since its commencement in 2008 and is the secretary of the committee as well as Research Coordinator for clinical trials.  She has a Diploma in Business Management and has many years experience working in ophthalmology.  During her career in health management she has worked in various roles in the industry, including day surgery and consulting room services.   As Clinical Coordinator for Tasmanian Eye Institute she takes great joy in seeing the changes that can be made to peoples lives through research.   

Jennie and her husband are the very proud parents to their two adult sons and are grandparents to two gorgeous granddaughters.  She enjoys the opportunity to travel, keeping fit, and the outdoors and is often looking for a challenge that fits these areas.

Michelle Vote is one of the founders of Tasmanian Eye Institute. She recently commenced in the role of chairperson having been a director on the board for more than 10 years. She is a registered nurse and midwife and has worked in 3 countries over the past 35 years . This work has included time working in eye theatres .  She currently works as a midwife. Her passion for the charity stems from her desire to give back to the community and help those in need.  She is married to Brendan and mother to their wonderful sons Joshua and Benjamin, mother in law to Chloe and Sally and a grandmother to Hugo. She enjoys keeping fit with running , gym and swimming and loves travelling and experiencing other cultures. 

Rachael has been working in the ophthalmic industry since 1998, and joined Tasmanian Eye Institute in 2008 as a director.

Since Tasmanian Eye Institute’s inception, Rachael has been involved with the research clinical trials in the areas of retinal photography, macular scanning and performing subjective refractions.

She also coordinates our social media pages for Tasmanian Eye Institute.

Rachael is married with two adult daughters, and her hobbies include spending time at the beach, playing hockey and spending time with her family.

Gaylene’s role with Tasmanian Eye Institute is to maintain the financial records and day to day financial activities. She has a Certificate IV in Accounting and Bookkeeping.  She is also involved in the fundraising activities and enjoys the challenge of finding new ideas and opportunities to raise funds for Tasmanian Eye Institute.  Gaylene is married to Ted and has two children, Bonnie who is following a career path in teaching and Jordan in construction.

Her hobbies include travel, especially to Ethiopia where she assists with the running of an orphanage, whilst in Ethiopia Gaylene also distributes Tasmanian Eye Institute glasses to the communities in need.

She enjoys water sports, reading and cooking.

Gaylene is really excited to be part of a charity that assists not only local people, but people worldwide with the research being done and looks forward to continuing to seeing  the charity grow.