Professor Truscott from the Save Sight Institute in Sydney Australia has made numerous significant contributions towards the understanding of the most common and costly of cataract conditions, age-related nuclear cataract. In particular the discoveries that oxidation is a key indicator of cataract, combined with his excellent work in the delineation of a barrier to diffusion in the older lens have led to the postulation of a sound theory for the aetiology of age-related nuclear cataract. Furthermore, the elucidation of the mechanism for the attachment of UV-filters to lens proteins and the discovery of such modifications in the human lens has provided a rationale for photo-oxidative contributions to lens damage.