Development, Ageing and Disease Theme

Led by Professor Clare Futter

Professor Clare Futter


Deputy Theme Lead: Dr Ryan MacDonald

Dr Ryan MacDonald

Watch Development, Ageing and Disease Research theme on YouTube.

Fundamental mechanisms and discovery

There is an urgent need for new treatments for eye disease. We investigate the biological mechanisms that regulate vision and visual dysfunction so that we can identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies. Our labs use cellular and computational disease modelling, molecular genetics, as well as the power of molecular dissection techniques such as proteomics, transcriptomics and metabolomics, and state-of-the-art imaging. We aim to identify disease-causing gene mutations, determine why ageing makes us more susceptible to common eye diseases, and establish disease-causing mechanisms at the molecular and cellular level to pave the way for effective therapeutic intervention. 

Our theme members are: