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- Fight for Sight awards £1 million for retinal disease research
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Fight for Sight awards £1 million for retinal disease research
19 July 2011
Every year the charity awards grants for original and ground-breaking research into the causes of sight loss at universities and hospitals across the UK. The new grants will support researchers based at the UCL Institute of Child Health, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, the University of Birmingham, Queen Mary, University of London and the University of Liverpool.
The grants include funding the following research at the ICH:
Repairing damage caused by retinal disease
The death of rod and cone photoreceptor cells caused by retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa is the leading cause of sight loss in the developed world. Photoreceptor cells help us to see by capturing light and converting it into electrical impulses to be transmitted to the brain where it is interpreted as images.
Dr Jane Sowden from the UCL Institute of Child Health, working with Professor Robin Ali at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, has previously shown that immature rod photoreceptor cells can be effectively transplanted in mice. However, attempts to replace cone photoreceptor cells have been less successful.
Dr Sowden and Professor Ali now plan to use methods from their previous work for the transplantation of cone photoreceptor cells. It is hoped this research will enable the replacement of damaged cells and potentially restore sight.
Page last modified on 19 jul 11 09:21
