Dr James Muecke: Fighting global blindness and disrupting the Sugar Industry.

What a privilege it was to speak with 2020 Australian of the Year, Dr James Muecke. James is an Australian ophthalmologist working in Adelaide, South Australia whose life’s work has been to treat and prevent Blindness with a strong focus on improving outcomes in underprivileged communities in Australia, but also Africa and Asia.

James shared his experiences of working in Kenya and Jerusalem in his early years as a Doctor and how many sliding door moments shaped his career. We loved hearing about Jame’s journey as co-founder of Sight for All, whose vision is. world where everyone can see. This social impact organisation is dedicated to fighting the causes of blindness with projects in Aboriginal and mainstream Australian communities, as well as training and equipping eye surgeons throughout Africa and Asia. 

James also shared his passion as a fierce advocate for prevention of blindness with a touching patient story of Neil Hansel who lost his eyesight overnight. Caring for patients such as Neil, coupled with James’ wish to best utilise his Australian of the year Platform have led to incredible work advocating for societal improvements, for example through lobbying for changes to our Australian Dietary Guidelines, making a stand against the marketing of unhealthy products and his contributions to the new ten-year National Diabetes Plan.

This life’s work has been a shared passion of James’ family: His wife and two sons who we loved hearing about during our conversation.

Weblink: Sight for All: Sight For All – Teaching the world to see