The Vision CRC mourns the loss of Jerry Chen, a PhD candidate with the Vision CRC, who passed away on the 30th November after a long battle with cancer.
Jerry was a brilliant and dedicated student who was highly respected by staff and students. His dedication and passion for his work not only meant he maintained an extremely high academic standard. Through his insight and knowledge, particularly in the area of computational modelling, he made noteworthy contributions to major research projects at the Vision CRC, Institute for Eye Research, University of New South Wales and Prince of Wales Hospital.
Jerry completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Biomedical Engineering with first class honours, at the University of New South Wales in 2003.
During this time he assisted Professor Bill Walsh at the Orthopaedic and Traumatic Research Laboratory at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, where he worked as a trainee and conducted his Masters thesis work. His computational modelling skills and knowledge of the finite element analysis technique were applied to a number of projects, enhancing understanding of bones and joints and contributing to joint replacement design.
After graduating Jerry took up a scholarship with the Vision CRC in September 2003. He was then awarded a prestigious APA scholarship by the Australian Government in 2004, to undertake a PhD under the supervision of Professors Arthur Ho and Bob Augusteyn at the Vision CRC.
Jerry took on a PhD topic that was technically extremely difficult, investigating how the eye accommodates, or changes shape to achieve focus. This required the building of a complex computational model and drew heavily on his experience in the application of the finite element analysis technique.
During his time with Vision CRC, Jerry made a significant contribution to the Dynamic Vision project, under the direction of Professor Ho. His modelling of the lens, zonules and ciliary body of the eye brought important insights to the project, leading to improved understanding of the Dynamic Vision gel, a corrective technology being developed to eliminate presbyopia.
Such was Jerry’s growing reputation, Professor Jean-Marie Parel from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (consistently the highest ranked ophthalmology hospital in USA), invited him to undertake post-doctoral work at Professor Parel’s laboratory at the University of Miami.
Sadly, Jerry was on the verge of completing his PhD, needing only to finish a small number of experiments and write up his thesis.
“Jerry was known as a polite, unassuming and extremely humble person”, noted Professor Ho. “Occasionally this led to his talents being underestimated. His colleagues, lecturers and supervisors, however, quickly became aware of his abilities, no more so than with the formidable challenge he set himself with his PhD topic and with his critical project contributions.”
Ulli Stahl, a friend and fellow PhD candidate at Vision CRC, said, “Jerry was a very genuine person who always found the time to ask others how they were going and how their research was progressing. He had a rare gift to be able to make everyone feel they were very important to him.”
“Intellectually, he had a great ability to explain difficult concepts simply. He took on an extremely complex thesis topic, but he amazed me how he was able to describe it in terms that made it easy to understand.”
“When asked, Jerry would openly talk about his treatment and how it was progressing, sharing his experiences in his humble way, without ever complaining”, Ulli added.
Throughout his illness Jerry retained an optimistic outlook and continued to strive to finish his PhD and assist in the progress of the Dynamic Vision project. His death is a sad loss to his colleagues and the field of vision care, to which he appeared destined to make a significant contribution.
The Vision CRC extends its sympathies to Jerry’s family and friends.
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