Maria Cabrera Aguas

Dr. Maria Cabrera Aguas is a Post-doctoral Researcher at the University of Sydney's Save Sight Institute, specializing in corneal infections, antimicrobial resistance, and public health. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine from the National University of Colombia, a Master of International Public Health from UNSW Sydney, and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Sydney.

Research Interests: Her work focuses on infectious keratitis, antimicrobial resistance, and developing evidence-based guidelines for corneal infections. She leads projects like the Herpes Simplex Keratitis Treatment Guidelines and the Bacterial Ocular Surveillance System (BOSS), tracking resistance patterns in Sydney.

Key Projects:

• Establishment of the Herpes Simplex Keratitis Treatment Guidelines endorsed by RANZCO
• Leading the Bacterial Ocular Surveillance System to monitor antimicrobial resistance
• Investigating ocular stem cell therapies and their adoption among eye care professionals

Grants:

• Deep learning for diagnosing infectious keratitis (2025)
• Ocular stem cell therapy education (2023)
• National bacterial keratitis surveillance (2022)

Publications: Over 40 peer-reviewed articles on corneal infections, antimicrobial resistance, and guideline implementation. Recent work includes reviews on ocular diagnostic imaging and antibiotic resistance trends.

Education & Outreach: Creator of the Sydney Eye Podcast, which explains eye conditions to the public. Active in science communication, including ARVO's Science Communication Fellowship.