way detailing her work identifying naturally-occurring candidate molecules for functionalising drug-loaded nanoparticles to overcome the mucosal layer protecting the eye increasing latency and improving drug-delivery.
Dr. Laurence Fitzhenry (Waterford Institute of Technology) continued in this vein detailing his work on improving delivery of corticosteroids for dry-eye remedy. Employing a spectrum of innovative strategies, Dr. Fitzhenry demonstrated an impressive increased efficacy up to 50% for his formulations using ex vivo models as compared to a leading market competitor.
Prof. Rocio Herrero Vanrell (University Complutense Madrid) took us from the front of the eye to the back as she detailed how improvements in drug delivery strategies, such as biodegradable microspheres, have reduced the frequency of intraocular injections necessary for the treatment of a number of pathologies.
In a call-back to the first talk, Dr. Alison Reynolds (University College Dublin) spoke about her own experiences using the zebrafish model of proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Reynolds described how this model, along with other in vitro and ex vivo assays, were used in unison to screen small molecule libraries in order to identify novel anti-angiogenic compounds against the aforementioned disease.
Carlos Carpena (International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory) took us back to the issue of dry-eye but instead of looking at topical treatments, Carlos detailed his work on drug delivery via contact lenses. His in vivo work integrating dinucleotides into the matrix of the lenses effectively reduced dry-eye comparative to existing treatments presenting a novel platform for future therapeutic delivery.
Sergio Esteban-Pérez (University Complutense Madrid) closed the session discussing gene therapy strategies and his development of a hydrogel-based transfection agent for retinal pathologies. Sergio detailed the important aspects to consider when designing a topical agent and demonstrated effective GFP delivery and expression in vitro using an optimised formulation.
Targeted drug delivery to ocular tissues has been a major challenge for decades, however the coinciding of improvements to experimental modelling with the advent of nanotechnology, has driven development and advances in the area at a rapid pace over the last twenty years. Some of the work on display in this session really underlined how far therapeutic delivery has come in addressing the key limitations that have hindered efficacy until now, with a number of innovative, diverse approaches detailed. Certainly, the concept of a topical drop formulation that delivers a sustained release of a targeting therapeutic to replace invasive strategies currently in use for certain eye diseases does not look that far away from being a reality.
Before the day ended there was an opportunity for those interested to discuss European networking opportunities with key stakeholders of 3D NEONET, and experts in the UCD research office and Health Research Board, to explore potential opportunities for workshop attendees of all backgrounds to work together. This was once again an excellent opportunity as an early career researcher to sit at a table with some of the leading figures in their respective field and learn from their experiences in developing a profile, establishing networks, and securing funding at a European level.
The second day of the workshop got underway looking at the tail-end of the pipeline – translation from bench to bedside. Basic research, which furthers our understanding of the differences between ‘normal’ and ‘disease’ states, often does not directly translate in clinically useful applications. In relation to the ocular field, as iterated earlier, access to human ocular tissue for experimental purposes is quite restricted meaning the penultimate design of agents of therapeutics that achieve the highest efficacy with the minimal toxicity for use in humans, using non-human models in their development, is challenging. This final session aimed to look at how laboratory findings can be, 