UA31301 Impact of Giving A4 Book FINAL - Flipbook - Page 17
Supporting
visionary science:
an ophthalmologist’s
legacy honoured
Professor John
Crompton AM RFD,
ophthalmologist and
University of Adelaide
alumnus, has pledged
a perpetual research
scholarship in honour of
his late father, Dr David
Owen Crompton AO.
The scholarship provides essential
support to a research student dedicated
to advancing our understanding of eye
disease management.
John’s father was a pioneering
ophthalmologist and medical researcher,
working to combat blindness through
medical work with vulnerable
communities and conducting research
into causes of preventable blindness.
In the 1960s Dr Compton worked
on understanding the cause of eye
infections that were being contracted
in hospitals and discovered that many
clinical settings were using non-sterile
eye drops on patients after surgery.
This discovery led to widespread
legislative changes, and in 1963 South
Australia became the first in the world
to mandate the sterile supply of all
eye drops, introducing the inclusion
of a bacteriostatic in containers
with tamper-proof seals to prevent
bacteria from colonising the drops.
“He was a man of principle and
always stood up for what he
believed in,” Professor Crompton
AM said of his father.
Impact of Giving
Dr David Owen
Crompton AO in 1935
invasive approaches has the potential
to unlock a multitude of new treatment
possibilities for patients,” Dr Tong said.
“It is a great step forward and
advancement for Dr Tong’s career
and job opportunities,” Professor
Crompton explained.
David also worked with Father
Frank Flynn to address trachoma, a
bacterial eye infection that affected
a large number of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people.
Following in his father’s footsteps,
John has dedicated years of service to
communities around the Asia-Pacific
region, teaching neuro-ophthalmology
in countries such as Myanmar, Vietnam,
Cambodia and Mongolia, and providing
these countries with their own specialist
eye doctors. “It’s been a highlight of my
career and a great passion of mine.”
The D.O. Crompton Eye Scholarship
preserves John’s father’s legacy
and the spirit of empowerment,
providing current recipient, Dr Jessica
Tong, with the support she needs to
advance her career and research.
“My research involves investigating
novel surgical approaches to the orbit
and skull base regions, with the aid
of an endoscope. This has practical
implications as the orbital apex and
skull base are intimately associated
with critical contents. Access to deep
neurovascular structures is often complex
and fraught with risk and morbidity.
The exploration of novel and minimally
I am incredibly grateful
to Professor Crompton
for establishing the D.O.
Crompton Eye Scholarship.
This scholarship has been
invaluable to my PhD
research on transorbital
endoscopic approaches.”
Dr Jessica Tong
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