We are pleased to announce that Dr Peter Beckingsale has been appointed Medical Director, Ocular at the Queensland Tissue Bank (QTB), succeeding Professor Lawrie Hirst, who founded what was then called the Queensland Eye Bank in 1988.

Dr Beckingsale first trained in eye banking in 2005 at the Queen Victoria Hospital Eye Bank in Sussex, United Kingdom, before returning to Australia to continue his work in corneal surgery and transplantation. He has been closely involved with the Queensland Eye Bank since 2014 when he became the Assistant Medical Director, and is currently also Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Corneal Society.

The ocular program at QTB is the busiest eye bank in Australia. In the past year alone, it supplied more than 1,000 corneas for transplantation to patients in Queensland and across the country. Looking ahead, exciting projects are underway, including the introduction of eye bank prepared pre-stripped tissue for Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK)—an advance that will streamline surgery and improve outcomes for patients requiring endothelial keratoplasty.

This appointment represents an important milestone for the Queensland Tissue Bank, building on Professor Hirst’s legacy while positioning the program for further innovation and continued excellence in delivering vision-restoring care.