WHO WE ARE:
Our Success Story
Ophthalmic Trials Australia (OTA) was born out of resilience and innovation. After 20+ successful years of running Mark Hinds Optometrists, the COVID-19 pandemic posed a major threat to our future. In response, we embraced a new opportunity—ophthalmic clinical trials—and transformed a challenge into a mission to make a lasting impact on eye health. COVID-19 highlighted to our team that there are many unmet needs for so many diseases, and the eye was no exception. With the USA clinical trial space struggling in the wake of the pandemic, sponsors and CRO’s found us.
Since then, OTA has played an integral role in supporting biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the fight against ocular diseases. With over two decades of experience in optometry and subspecialty practice, Dr Mark Hinds brings a depth of knowledge, leadership, and clinical expertise to the evolving field of ophthalmic clinical research. His previous experience in exercise physiology research, married with his team’s wealth of experience and ability to successfully deliver ophthalmic clinical trials, made for OTA’s ongoing success. With adversity, there is opportunity, and this is how the ripple gathered momentum to become a wave of success for OTA as a world-class clinical trial site. Today, OTA is Australia’s busiest independent anterior eye research organisation.
Why Sponsors and CROs Choose Us
Our clear advantage lies in our ability to streamline and expedite the clinical trial process, without compromising on quality or compliance.
With evolving FDA regulations creating uncertainty, Australia has become a leading destination for early-phase clinical trials. Offering speed, scientific quality, cost-effectiveness, and strong patient recruitment, Australia provides both sponsors and investors with a clear competitive edge.
For sponsors, Australia ensures streamlined ethics and regulatory approvals, efficient trial execution, and robust data collection.
For investors, this translates into accelerated development timelines, reduced risk, and higher value creation.
Australia is now the proactive pathway for ophthalmic and biotech innovation—delivering efficiency without compromise and positioning companies for success on the global stage.
We not only have a purpose-built facility but can offer CROs and Sponsors a streamlined investigation with:
✅ Established Patient Database
With a growing database of over 35,000 patients accumulated through years of optometric care, we can rapidly identify and recruit participants from a diverse range of ages, ethnicities, genetic backgrounds, and lifestyles, ensuring rich and reliable clinical data. Our database has been carefully stratified to offer pre-screened participants the opportunity to participate. Moreover, there is a large network of potential participants that have been collected but are not suitable for previous research in our database.
Australia represents a unique ecosystem for clinical research, combining regulatory efficiency with world-class data generation. With a population of 25 million, Australia initiates around 1,500 new clinical trials each year and contributes to approximately 5% of all global industry-sponsored studies.
OTA’s strong track record highlights Australia’s capacity to deliver timely, high-quality results—making it a preferred destination for sponsors and investors seeking both speed and scientific excellence in early-phase development.
🤝 Strong Referral Networks
Our collaborations with both private and public ophthalmology clinics allow us to access broader patient populations and specialist care pathways. Our close working relationship and geographic proximity with the researchers at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital are advantageous for collaboration and participant availability. We also welcome working with external recruitment organisations with HREC approval.
🏥 Dedicated Facilities & Expert Team
OTA offers purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities supported by a highly experienced and motivated clinical trial team. From project inception to completion and publication, we manage all aspects of trial conduct with efficiency and care.
🔬 Governance and Advisory Experience
We operate under local governance and adhere strictly to Good Clinical Practice (GCP). Our team actively contributes to pharmaceutical advisory boards and has experience working with investors, biotech founders, and venture capital to ensure alignment from clinical to commercial goals.
Our Purpose
At Ophthalmic Trials Australia, our passion is clear:
We aim to preserve vision and improve the quality of life through targeted research and innovation. By conducting well-run, ethical, and efficient clinical trials, our goal is to bring safe, effective, and life-changing treatments to market faster.
CRO’s and Sponsors
MEET SOME OF OUR TEAM
Tracey
Tracey leads our team as the Senior Study Coordinator. Tracey has been the financial and operational ‘brain’ of both Mark Hinds Optometrists and Ophthalmic Trials Australia.
Tracey is OTA’s lead point of contact for CROs, sponsors, and participants. She can be reached at Tracey@ot-au.com.
Tracey’s drive and years of experience running the show, both hands-on and behind the scenes, is evident in her ability to manage staff, clinical trials, participants, and ethics. She oversees all staff, finances, goals, budgeting, and task delegation; ensuring that all procedures/operations are completed ethically and efficiently. This practice management is the reason why Sponsors and CRO’s see OTA as a valuable vehicle to ensure the success of their project. OTA runs smoothly and speedily whilst maintaining GCP, enabling us to provide reliable data in a timely manner. Sponsors see great value in this with a fast to terminate, pivot and finish to capitalise on their investment. This is in every way due to Tracey’s expertise in her field of practice and financial management. This practice management also allows us to be flexible with participant scheduling; Tracey’s teams access to a 35 000 stratified database and >1000 expressions of interest from years of clinical trial recruitment enables us to rapidly recruit participants that meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Tracey has used her knowledge and proficiency in both risk management and healthcare management to incorporate clinical trials into practice. Coordinating participants, managing trial budgets, maintaining research governance, data collection oversight, managing external audit processes and demonstrating high ethical disciplines are only a small part of what it takes to successfully run ongoing clinical trials. Tracey plays a key role by evidence of our track record in the successful execution of many clinical trials within Ophthalmic Trials Australia.
Dr Georgia Duhig
BBiomedSc, BMSc
Whilst making her way through her studies from her Biomedical Degree through to Medicine at Bond University, Georgia has become an integral part of the OTA team. Georgia began working alongside Dr Hinds since her end years in senior school, as an Ophthalmic Technician at MHO. Since Dr Hinds started OTA, Georgia has progressed with experience and expertise to become our Research Governance and Officer (RGO). Now with over 5 years of experience being OTA’s RGO, she has forever become an important part of OTA’s team. Georgia’s role is to oversee operations, approve Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and ensure that ethical conduct is maintained at OTA. Georgia reads over and approves of protocols to confirm that patient safety and confidentiality are met to ensure that OTA operates within GCP.
Prior to her becoming our RGIU officer, she played an integral part in our unmasked team. With this experience, Georgia gained extensive understandings on how clinical trials operate. Coming from an extended medical family, Georgia herself is drawn to the medical field and is coming to the final portion of the medical program at Bond University, pursuing her goal of becoming an ophthalmologist
Dr Luisa Holguin Colorado
PhD, BAppSc(optom), FAAO
Dr Colorado is OTA’s ethics lead scientist to ascertain and evaluate CRO/Sponsor ethics submissions for OTA. Dr Colorado graduated with a five-year optometry degree in Colombia and has worked as a clinical optometrist in ophthalmology clinics and surgical practices for two years before coming to Australia. Since coming to Australia, she has been a Clinician and Lecturer at QUT in addition to being an Investigator for QUT’s Clinical Trial team.
Dr Colorado has embarked on a PhD in 2013 supervised by Emeritus Professor Nathan Efron AC.
She completed a research fellowship at the Contact Lens and Visual Optics Laboratory and The Anterior Eye Laboratory at the Queensland University of Technology, conducting research work for the contact lens industry, such as Johnson & Johnson Vision Care and CooperVision.
Dr Colorado is still involved in numerous clinical trials as Principal Investigator, Sub-Investigator, Clinical Coordinator and Ethics consultant for Brisbane based clinical trial sites. We are very thankful and fortunate that Dr Colorado brings such a wealth of knowledge and experience to OTA. This enables OTA to access Corneal Spectral Microscope assessments.
Her expertise in ethics, publication history, multiple clinical trials, DED and various IP’s helps bring OTA’s knowledge of ethical structure and programming to the forefront of independent clinical trial research. OTA has the ability to be the lead investigational site to get a fast start to sponsors’ investigational products and have institutional sites follow.
Ava
Ava has performed her roles as study coordinator and unmasked pharmacy with the highest standard of care, integrating her role into OTA. Ava has been on board with the MHO team since 2021.
Ava’s keen attitude towards OTA and MHO has secured her future here with us. Ava has sacrificed extended studies at university to focus on working at MHO and OTA full-time and with focus. In addition to her years of full-time work at MHO and OTA, she has also completed her diploma in business, emphasising her ability to manage administrative logistics.
Through her work experience, she has honed her leadership, practice management, and organisational skills. Ava focuses on un-masked pharmacy management; she must oversee the acceptance, maintenance, application/compliance, and destruction/return of Investigational Product/Devices (Pharmacy) and manage all un-masked data. Ava’s work ethic and self-motivation have enforced her ethical pharmaceutical conduct, ensuring that all un–masked roles are completed according to GCP.
Dr Ally Stevens
B.VisSci MOptom
Dr Stevens first started working at MHO in May of 2022. Since then, she has worked determinedly to build herself a patient base within Dr Hinds’ established practice. As one of our clinical optometrists, as well as being a key part of the dry eye clinic team and the research arm of our clinical trial team, Dr Stevens has established herself as a multi-skilled optometrist. Dr Stevens is a part of our pharmacy team in addition to her position as an optometrist. Dr Stevens oversees all Investigational Product/Device acceptance, maintenance, application/compliance, and destruction, as well as all unmasked data.
Dr Stevens has been a fundamental part to our clinical trial team for several years in both masked and unmasked roles and continues to develop her knowledge/experience in pharmaceutical and device ophthalmic clinical trials.
Axel
Axel is currently studying a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at QUT starting 2024. Axel is studying part-time as his priority and focus is on OTA. His role as Chief Data Manager and Study Coordinator puts him in a vital role for maintaining OTA up to date with data entry.
Axel oversees all data management, entry, scribing, and storage, as well as using and understanding various ePRO/eCRF platforms for both participant and site-specific queries. Axel is the main point of contact for participants in the use of their subject diaries and questionnaires, available 24/7 for participants throughout the study. Axel is also the main point of contact for CRO/Sponsor data queries.
Axel also plays a chief part in maintaining clinic GCP and administration. Axel is the author of all OTA’s site specific Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and website. He ensures that there is full SOP compliance and also that all machines and equipment is calibrated and work to specifications.
Dr Rebecca (Bec) Kitson
B.VisSci MOptom
Bec is our latest addition to our full-time practitioners. She has worked in the ophthalmological field for the last 4 years in addition to her work in clinical trials, including block enrolment, since 2024 at QUT. Her professional work both in ophthalmology and in clinical trials has made her an invaluable member of OTA. With invaluable experience in data and staff management within clinical trials has her a step above the rest. As a part of our clinical trial team, she enhances the efficiency of data acquisition and patient flow particularly for block enrolment protocols.
Bec has a keen interest in anterior eye disease and ocular surface management including dry eye disease.
Dr Sam Kitson
B.VisSci, MD
Dr Kitson is one of our doctors on call. Dr Kitson is a doctor at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, currently completing her Masters in Ophthalmic Science. With a background in optometry and a keen interest in ophthalmology, Dr Kitson brings her medical experience and expertise to advancing patient care at OTA.
Dr Kitson’s credibility and experience in her field is vital for OTA to maintain integrity with GCP. Dr Kitson oversees and approves required study documents, to ensure that all trials conducted at OTA and properly approved. Dr Kitson is involved when the protocol demands an onsite medical doctor for procedural tasks.
Alex
BCI
Alex is one of our study coordinators, with a Bachelor’s degree in creative Industries and Masters degree in Digital Communication from QUT she provides an insight into the design world. Alex plays a vital role in the maintenance of study data, working in tandem with Dr Hinds as a scribe. Alex brings a lot of joy to a clinical trial day, particularly for participants with extended visits.
Kirra
B. VisSci B. Nursing
Kirra is a dedicated Study Coordinator and Clinical Nurse at Ophthalmic Trials Australia, contributing to the advancement of clinical research in ophthalmology. With a strong academic background, Kirra brings both precision and empathy to the conduct of clinical trials.
After earning a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Queensland in 2022 and a Bachelor of Vision Science in 2025, Kirra developed a unique interdisciplinary skill set that bridges patient care and vision research. Currently, Kirra supports a range of ophthalmic clinical trials alongside Dr. Mark Hinds, assisting in all aspects of study coordination, patient engagement, and data, pathology and sample collection.
In addition to clinical responsibilities, Kirra has gained experience in administrative processes, pre-examination workups, and pharmaceutical handling, ensuring the smooth and compliant operation of each study site.