• Dame Mary Perkins funds PhD student’s AMD prediction research at Southampton

    Southampton PhD student, Dr Maria Patsiamanidi has been generously funded by Dame Mary Perkins as part of the Univeristy of Southampton’s Medical Innovation Fund. Maria will be working with Professor Andrew Lotery to analyse data gathered in the PINNACLE study, to help develop a prediction model for age-related macular degeneration. Read the full article here: Dame…

  • Southampton vision experts write journal commentary on anti-obesity drugs and the retina

    Scientists from the University of Southampton – Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka, Dr Helena Lee, Professor Andrew Lotery and PhD student, Anna Muir – were invited by the British Journal of Ophthalmology to write an expert commentary on the latest research about possible links between anti-obesity medications and eye condtions. Their article summarises what is currently known, highlights…

  • Journalism student interviews Professor Lotery on eye research at Bach concert

    “A mixture of two of the senses we value the most”. At Sunday’s Bach concert, journalism student Ethan Vine (University of Winchester) interviewed Professor Andrew Lotery about the importance of events like these for raising the awareness of eye research. Listen to Ethan’s short report here.

  • Bach Winchester Voices concert raises funds for Gift of Sight

    A wonderful concert was held at St Paul’s Church Winchester, by Bach Winchester Voices: Sonn & Schild – Bach with Brass. Our thanks to Jon Newman and Andrew Hayman for putting together a spectacular performance and inviting us to raise funds for Gift of Sight. A truly special event.

  • Dr Jay Self speaks on genomics and nystagmus at Cairo conference

    Dr Jay Self was invited to speak at the 18th International Conference of the Research Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO) in Cairo, Egypt. His talk featured information on genomics testing and nystagmus.

  • PINNACLE Study website launches with interactive AI-powered AMD atlas

    The official PINNACLE Study website is now live. This international research project, led by Professor Andrew Lotery, harnesses machine learning and advanced imaging to develop a new classification system for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) – helping us better understand this sight-threatening condition. A key highlight is the Interactive AMD Atlas, a unique tool featuring 46,496 retinal images…

  • ITV Channel Islands highlights NystagME games recruiting young players

    In the news – article on ITV Channel Islands encouraging people to try out the NystagME games and help the study progress to make a viable way to test treatment success for nystagmus patients. Children asked to take part in video game trial to track rare eyesight condition | ITV News Channel

  • Dr Helena Lee awarded £542,000 to advance albinism treatment towards trials

    Dr Helena Lee has been awarded a grant of £542,000 by the Medical Research Council to progress her OLIVIA study towards clinical trials. The study explores a potential new treatment for albinism in babies to prevent sight loss from the condition. Read the full article here: Hope for young children with impaired sight caused by Albinism

  • Dr Ratnayaka’s team publishes paper on RPE cell responses linked to AMD

    Dr Arujuna Ratayaka and his team have published a new paper in Cells: Whole RNA-Seq Analysis Reveals Longitudinal Proteostasis Network Responses to Photoreceptor Outer Segment Trafficking and Degrading in RPE Cells. The study showed how gene-networks in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells respond to engulfing outer segments of photoceptors. These discoveries provide a ‘fingerprint’, identifying genetic-hubs and…

  • Charlie Ellis and Dr Ratnayaka publish open-source method for studying lysosomes

    PhD student Charlie Ellis has published a paper with Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka exploring how open-source tools can help scientists analyse lysosomes – the recycling centres of cell – in retinal pigment epithelium. This work is vital for understanding diseases like age-related macular degeneration and developing new treatments. Read the abstract here: Computational Approaches for Delineating Lysosomes…