Helen Victoria Danesh-Meyer is a New Zealand

ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

academic, and as of 2008 is a full professor at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

. She is the first female professor of ophthalmology in New Zealand, and the second female professor in any surgical speciality in New Zealand. In 2025 Danesh-Meyer was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...

Academic career

After an undergraduate at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

followed by a 2004 MD titled '' 'The evaluation of diagnostic procedures, visual outcome and optic nerve morphology in giant cell arteritis' '' and a 2013

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

titled '' 'Evaluation of optic nerve morphology in non-glaucomatous optic neuropathies with quantitative optic nerve imaging modalities' '' at the

, Danesh-Meyer joined the staff at Auckland, rising to full professor. Much of Danesh-Meyer's profile is due to her work on

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can lead to damage of the optic nerve. The optic nerve transmits visual information from the eye to the brain. Glaucoma may cause vision loss if left untreated. It has been called the "silent thief of ...

. In 2022, she co-founded the Vision Research Foundation and acts as its Scientific Director. The Vision Research Foundation focuses on supporting early and mid-career vision researchers in New Zealand Danesh-Meyer has been an authored or co-author of over 180 peer-reviewed publications. Her work has linked retinal nerve thinning to dementia and inflammation pathways relevant to eye diseases.

Honours

In the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

, Danesh-Meyer was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

(CNZM), for services to ophthalmology. In March 2025 Danesh-Meyer was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi "for being an international leader in the field of neuro-ophthalmic disorders".

Selected works

* Danesh-Meyer, H. V., H. Birch, JY-F. Ku, Stuart Carroll, and Gregory Gamble. "Reduction of optic nerve fibers in patients with Alzheimer disease identified by laser imaging."

Neurology Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix wikt:-logia, -logia, "study of") is the branch of specialty (medicine) , medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous syst ...

67, no. 10 (2006): 1852–1854. * Danesh-Meyer, Helen V., Taras Papchenko, Peter J. Savino, Andrew Law, James Evans, and Greg D. Gamble. "In vivo retinal nerve fiber layer thickness measured by optical coherence tomography predicts visual recovery after surgery for parachiasmal tumors."

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science ''Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science'' (''IOVS'') is an online journal published by the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). History The journal was established as an official publication of the Association for R ...

49, no. 5 (2008): 1879–1885. * Danesh-Meyer, Helen V. "Radiation-induced optic neuropathy."

Journal of Clinical Neuroscience The ''Journal of Clinical Neuroscience'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering the discipline of neurosurgery and neurology. It was established in 1994 and is published by the Elsevier imprint Churchill Livingstone. It is the offic ...

15, no. 2 (2008): 95–100. * Danesh-Meyer, Helen V. "Neuroprotection in glaucoma: recent and future directions."

Current Opinion in Ophthalmology ''Current Opinion'' is a series of medical journals published by Wolters Kluwer imprint Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Wolters Kluwer acquired the journals from the Thomson Organisation International Thomson Organization (ITO) was a Canadian h ...

22, no. 2 (2011): 78–86. * Danesh-Meyer, Helen V., Peter J. Savino, and Robert C. Sergott. "Ocular and cerebral ischemia following facial injection of autologous fat."

Archives of Ophthalmology An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organi ...

119, no. 5 (2001): 777–778. * Danesh-Meyer, Helen V., Peter J. Savino, and Robert C. Sergott. "The prevalence of cupping in end-stage arteritic and nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy."

Opthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

108, no. 3 (2001): 593–598.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danesh-Meyer, Helen Living people New Zealand women academics Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand ophthalmologists University of Otago alumni University of Auckland alumni Academic staff of the University of Auckland New Zealand medical researchers New Zealand women writers Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand