Sunday, March 21, 2021

Dr Joshua Chu-Tan | The Natoli Group - Clear Vision Research Lab

 Here is the link. 

If you were asked, what was the one sense that you couldn't live without, most of you would have immediately thought of your sight. That is because our vision plays an integral role in how we perceive the world around us. Without research into the prevention of vision loss from retinal degenerations, it is guaranteed that 1 in 7 people will lose the sense of sight.

Research led by Dr Riccardo Natoli and his research team focuses on what causes the retina, the part of the eye responsible for converting light to an electrical signal that our brain can understand, to degenerate with age. This degeneration can lead to irreparable loss of retinal cells causing permanent blindness.

Our lab studies a number of retinal diseases such as Retinopathy of Prematurity, Retinitis Pigmentosa and Diabetic Retinopathy, but focuses on finding novel diagnostics and treatment options for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). The most common cause of blindness in Australia is AMD, costing the Australian economy ~5 billion dollars annually (Deloitte – Eyes on the Future, 2011). Current projections indicate that by 2030, 1.7 million people in Australia will have vision loss resulting from AMD.

Our most recent work has been involved in elucidating the role of miRNA in the degenerating retina, their role in modulating inflammation and there potential use as both therapeutics and diagnostics for the currently untreatable dry AMD.

No comments:

Post a Comment