Pharmacological and laser therapies for age related macular degeneration

Summary Retinal diseases are a major cause of blindness in the Western world. There are few successful treatments currently available, largely because the underlying mechanisms of disease are not well understood. The Visual Neuroscience laboratory investigates these underlying disease mechanisms using pre-clinical models and also explores potential mechanisms in individuals with potentially blinding conditions. We are currently studying two broad classes of retinal diseases: 1. Retinal degenerations 2. Retinal vascular disease and oedema.

Project Details

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of vision loss in the older community. There are currently no specific treatments for preventing late stage AMD or slowing the progression of the disease to the later vision threatening forms. In this project we will characterise morphological and functional changes in the eye of a pre-clinical model of AMD and test novel pharmacological and laser therapies to ameliorate these changes.

This project will involve the use of wide ranging techniques such as assessment of visual function, immunohistochemistry and molecular biology.

Ultimately, this study will help to answer whether novel pharmacological or laser therapies can be used as a preventative treatment for AMD.