RETINA AUSTRALIA FUNDED RESEARCH 2010

RETINA AUSTRALIA FUNDS TWO RESEARCH PROJECTS IN 2010

Once again, due to the generosity of our supporters, Retina Australia has been able to grant funding to two research projects this year, both being undertaken at the University of Melbourne

Prof Ursula Greferath

Firstly,  Professor Ursula Greferath and her team have been awarded $40,000 for their project to find a treatment for degeneration of the retina.  ”Histamine is known to cause an immune response in our body, often leading to allergies. Recently histamine was found to act as a messenger in the brain, carrying information from nerve to nerve. We now have evidences of histamine directing the proper development of the light sensors in our eye, the photoreceptors. The aim is to find out exactly what role histamine has in the regulation of photoreceptor development/maintenance to be able to use that knowledge to develop new ways to treat retinal disease.”

The second grant of $23,600 was awarded to Dr Erica Fletcher and her team whose research is also in search of a treatment. “Understanding how photoreceptors die is crucial for the development of therapeutic agents that slow the progression of RP.  The research is aimed at examining in detail how the molecule, ATP, causes photoreceptor death, and whether blockade of this class of molecule slows photoreceptor death.”

This funding is the result of a significant fund-raising effort by RA supporters, especially in view of the economic downturn experienced by the community in 2009.

It is also over and above the ongoing cost of our national Inherited Disease Register and Data Bank for families in Australia affected by Retinitis Pigmentosa and other Retinal Dystrophies.