$600,000 to macular disease research
Macular Disease Foundation Australia is celebrating World Sight Day (12 October) with a further commitment of $600,000 into some of Australia’s leading research in macular degeneration.
This fourth round of Research Grant Program funding brings the Foundation’s total commitment to $3.6 million in research grants since our program was launched in 2011.
“Our latest round of grants are supporting exciting and innovative projects that will contribute to the body of evidence produced by Australian research to support the macular disease community”, said Macular Disease Foundation Australia CEO, Julie Heraghty.
The Foundation is investing in the possibility of developing a new model for testing dry AMD utilising human retinal cells derived from stem cells.
We’re continuing funding into disease causation in the hope of developing a diagnostic blood test that will identify those at greatest risk for disease progression and a possible new avenue for treatment of dry AMD.
And, for the first time, we are funding genetic work into the rare macular degeneration condition of Stargardt’s disease that affects younger Australians.
Friend of the Foundation and Stargardt’s patient voice, Erin Philpot, is reassured by the Foundation’s commitment to finding answers to this rare macular disease “Having lived with Stargardt’s disease since I was 17 years of age, I live in hope that research will not only directly benefit me, but that it will help another young person in the future”.
MDFA’s Research Grant Program funds some of Australia’s leading research into age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The ultimate goal of the investment is to reduce the incidence and impact of the disease, which is Australia’s leading cause of low vision and blindness.
Posted: 12 October 2017
Erin Philpot was 17 when she was told she’d lose her sight
Erin has Stargardt’s disease, a rare genetic eye disease that generally first appears between the ages of 10 to 20.
