About The Australian Pterygium Centre

The Australian Pterygium Centre (TAPC) quite probably provides the most advanced treatment for pterygium in the world.

The concept of establishing a dedicated centre to care for pterygium patients as well as further research and teaching about the disease was a natural extension of Professor Hirst's 25 years of ongoing research into this field since returning to Australia.

In 1986, he was confronted by this disease, pterygium, which he had virtually not seen for the previous 10 years while training in the US. This interest in sun-related eye disease, but specifically pterygium, overwhelmed all other research interests so that in 2008 he decided to devote his activities to understanding and treating this disease.

The Australian Pterygium Centre is designed to give patients with a pterygium the best possible advice and treatment that can only come from surgeons who have committed themselves to honing their skills as a result of scientific investigation so that their patients will benefit from these skills in diagnosis, advice and surgery.