A Monash University researcher has been awarded a prestigious Viertel Fellowship, valued at AU$1.375 million over five years, to advance artificial intelligence (AI)-driven healthcare.

Associate Professor Zongyuan Ge, from the Faculty of Information Technology, has been named this year’s Bellberry-Viertel Fellow and is the first ever AI scientist to receive this medical research Fellowship.

Assoc Prof Ge is working to develop Australia’s first Unified Phenotype Foundation Model, an AI system designed to integrate diverse patient data – such as images, scans, clinical notes, and long-term medical histories – to enable earlier diagnosis, improved prognoses, and personalised healthcare.

Describing the recognition as an “incredible honour”, Assoc Prof Ge said the Fellowship would allow the building of “a new unified foundation for medical AI – one that learns from the full picture of a person’s health and can drive earlier, more accurate, and more equitable care for the diverse healthcare needs of the Australian population”.

Optipro has been rebranded Vision Connection, reflecting the group’s successful growth into a community of independent eye care practices and suppliers built on connection, collaboration, and shared vision.

Explaining the new brand, Vision Connection stated, “The optical industry is evolving quickly. Independent practices are adapting to new technologies, shifting patient needs, more aggressive competition, and, therefore, greater business demands. Over time, Optipro grew into something more than a buying group. It has become a bridge between innovation and access, suppliers and practices, business growth and patient care.”