Meet our volunteers: Joe Rizzo-Naudi
Our amazing volunteers are diverse in age, background and ethnicity. The one thing they have in common is that they are all living with, or directly affected by, an inherited sight loss condition.
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Meet a Researcher: Dr Jenny Dewing
Jenny Dewing is a postdoctoral researcher working on a Retina UK-funded project with Dr Arjuna Ratnayaka at the University of Southampton.
Meet our supporters: Ashley Campbell
Ashley has completed the London Marathon numerous times. He was part of #TeamRetinaUK in 2021 and talks here about his experience.
Meet a Researcher: Dr Nikolas Pontikos
Dr Nikolas Pontikos is a Senior Research Fellow at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, and has been working on inherited retinal conditions for several years.
Meet our community: Simon Lakin
Simon talks about his experience of genetic testing and counselling.
Genetic testing: an essential topic for discussion with the IRD community
As Luxturna reaches the clinic and other gene-specific therapies for inherited retinal disease get closer to the end of the development pipeline, it is becoming ever more important that affected families can access a genetic diagnosis, potentially opening up choices around treatment and clinical trial participation.
Your donations make progress possible
Your generous support allows Retina UK to fund the work of leading scientists who are increasing understanding of inherited sight loss and moving us closer to treatments.
Podcast: What is the UKIRDC and why does it exist?
With a significant proportion of inherited retinal conditions being caused by unidentified genetic faults, and many families unable to get clear results from genetic tests in clinic, the project set out to solve previously undiagnosable cases and discover more of the genes and mutations that are associated with sight loss.
Genetic testing
Genetic testing, usually via a blood sample, is used to try and identify which gene contains the fault that is causing an individual’s sight loss.
Genetics and gene therapy
When we talk about gene therapy we are usually referring to use of a harmless virus, called a vector, to deliver a normal copy of a defective gene into the cells of the eye.