“The eye is the jewel of our body” Henry David Thoreau
Our eyes are the windows to the world. An incredibly sophisticated organ with a truly unique anatomy and physiology, the two million parts which comprise a single eye working in unison bestow us with our ability to see. One of our five senses, ‘sight’ is considered the most important in humans; facilitating the delivery of an estimated 36,000 bits of information every second to the brain making them accountable for an estimated 85% of our contact and impression of the environment. In terms of natural order, the importance of our eyes in placing ‘visual species’ like humans at the top of the food chain cannot be underestimated.
The sheer intricacy of this organ however means ocular pathology is a complex field. Deciphering the specific pathophysiological mechanisms of several diseases is incredibly difficult (as we will see), and as a result a great number of debilitating ocular diseases remain without an effective cure. Until the appropriate research is conducted, ocular diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and dry-eye syndrome will continue to cause vision impairment, and in certain cases irreversible blindness, for up to 200 million people globally – a number steadily increasing due to the increase in aging populations. It is therefore imperative that therapies against the aforementioned ophthalmic pathologies are developed in order to alleviate the cumulative socio-economic and psychological impact these diseases could ultimately have on society.
How our NICB building would appear through eyes with distinct ocular pathologies
My research aims to address a part of this challenge, specifically by working on gene-therapy based therapeutic interventions for use in populations afflicted by destabilised or ‘leaky’ blood vessels characteristic of diabetic retinopathy. Our research group lead by Assoc. Prof. Phil Cummins, and based in the School of Biotechnology and National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology at Dublin City University, are undertaking this endeavour in conjunction with the Curtis group of Queens University Belfast, and the Ambati group of the Moran Eye Centre, UT, USA as part of US-Ireland R&D Partnership Program aimed at generating valuable discoveries and innovations leading to enhancements in health, disease prevention or healthcare.
A descriptive breakdown on diabetic retinopathy as put together by the OPGG of UCD and ICON Firecrest
This SFI-funded partnership is just one of many globally spanning ocular-orientated research networks within Ireland that I have come to know since branching into ophthalmic research. One research group I had encountered previously in my research travels was the Ocular Pharmacology and Genetics (OPGG) group based in the Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research of University College Dublin. Part of the 3D-NEONET consortium and boasting an impressive research track record in developing genetic and pharmacological treatments for human blindness, they as a group are equally adept in their outreach, dissemination, and promotion of ocular research within the research, patient and public audiences.
And so on a sun-scorched June 7th, I would find myself heading to the Conway Institute to attend the second bi-annual ‘New Frontiers in Ocular Therapeutics’ workshop run by the OPGG with support from Science Foundation Ireland and Bio-Sciences Ltd. Run over two days, this workshop was promoted as a gathering of those from all research backgrounds with an interest in developing eye therapeutics towards the clinic, and providing a forum to discuss their research, create new networks, and forge prospective collaborations.
The workshop did just that – a seventy strong cohort comprised of interdisciplinary experts, academics, clinicians, patient advocates, early career researchers, and PhD students, gathered together for what would be an excellent symposium in which any and all stakeholders in the field of vision research were represented and given an opportunity to d