Dr Andrew J. Zele is an ARC Future Fellow and QUT Professor of Optometry and Vision Science. His Doctoral research at the University of Melbourne was followed by Post-Doctoral appointments in the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences at the University of Melbourne and in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at the University of Chicago USA, where he also held a Visiting Research Fellowship at the Illinois College of Optometry. Dr Zele has been awarded two Australian Research Council (ARC) Fellowships; an ARC Australian Post-Doctoral (APD) Fellowship and an ARC Future Fellowship.

Dr Zele’s research in the Visual Science Laboratory at QUT focuses on developing optical instrumentation and methodologies to uncover the retinal mechanisms controlling visual function and performance, including clinical investigations of the ageing human eye. He is recognised for his study of the biological effects of light on human behaviour mediated via melanopsin expressing intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGC), its role in image-forming visual perception and non-image forming control of the pupil light reflex, for his key contributions to understanding the retinal processes modulating human vision under dim (mesopic) lighting conditions, and his attention to novel human centric lighting modalities for enhancing visual performance in the built environment.