What are inherited eye diseases?
Inherited retinal diseases affect thousands of people in the UK and can lead to severe sight loss from childhood through to adulthood. There are limited treatment options for many conditions and understanding the genetic causes is key to developing new treatments. In addition to Age-related Macular Degeneration, our team are investigating a range of other diseases that affect the retina, including:
Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)
Retinitis Pigmentosa is an inherited degenerative disease which slowly affects the retina and causes loss of night and side vision, or ‘tunnel vision’. RP typically progresses over time and can lead to significant sight loss.
Stargardts Disease
Stargardts is a genetic eye disorder that causes progressive loss of vision. It is characterised by macular degeneration with symptoms including vision loss, blurry vision, intolerance of light (photophobia), colour blindness, and retinal thinning.
How is our research helping?
At Gift of Sight, our researchers at the University of Southampton are working to better understand these conditions and develop new treatments.
Dr Jorn Lakowski and his team are studying underlying causes of RP in the Gift of Sight funded stem cell laboratory.
Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka and his research group at the University Hospital Southampton are carrying out investigations to better understand Stargardts disease and work towards developing potential treatments to preserve vision.
Studies includes:
- Developing gene therapies to target inherited retinal diseases
- Improving early diagnosis and disease tracking
- Identifying new treatment approaches to slow or stop vision loss
How you can help retinal eye research
You can support retinal eye research by donating to Gift of Sight and selecting ‘AMD and Retinal’ from the dropdown menu. We also welcome fundraising events and activities and would be delighted to support your efforts. Please contact Ailsa or Jennie at Gift of Sight for any enquiries.