Fight for Sight - Eye Research Matters

Discover how gene editing is advancing our understanding of Retinitis Pigmentosa. Keith Valentine caught up with Professor Majlinda Lako, Professor of Stem Cell Research at Newcastle University. In this wide-ranging discussion, she discusses her early career, fascination with the retina, and molecular scissors' role. Fight for Sight's funding has supported Malinda's work, and our chief executive and Majlinda share a sense of informed optimism for future treatments that will emerge from Professor Lako's work. 

Keith discusses CUREUsher, a charity dedicated to those with Usher syndrome, with Stephen White, one of its co-founders.

To celebrate the kick-off of the 2023 IBSA World Games, Keith sits down with Alaina MacGregor, the CEO of British Blind Sport, and Monica Smith, the British B1 tennis champion, to talk about preparing for the Games and the importance of a sporting community for visually impaired people.

Keith chats about assistive technology with Dr Nasser Siabi, OBE. Nasser is the CEO of Microlink PC, which aims to provide disability management and assistive tech to the workplace. He was awarded an OBE in 2011 for his contribution to helping over 300,000 disabled people transition from education into work. He is also a founding member of the British Assistive Technology Association (BATA) and part of the DWP Disability Employer Engagement steering group. Nasser is one of five brothers, four of whom have the eye condition keratoconus. 

Former Paralympian Darren Harris is an expert in overcoming adversity, blending lived experience, storytelling and psychological research.  He founded Unblind Your Mind, a transformational programme of speaking, coaching and masterclasses. He is also a dual Paralympian and England's most-capped blind footballer playing 157 times for his country. In the podcast recorded for retinoblastoma awareness week, he talks to Keith about losing his sight to eye cancer, building resilience, tackling adversity and why there has "never been a better time to be blind."

What does it take to get ground-breaking research out of the lab and accessible to patients so that we can save sight and change lives? In this episode of the Eye Research Podcast, Professor Robert MacLaren discusses gene therapy for choroideremia, an inherited form of progressive blindness. Joe Pepper, or P14, who was a trial participant. Fight for Sight and Vision Foundation Chief Executive Keith Valentine discusses the challenges of taking research from the lab through clinical trials to where it is widely available to patients. Specifically, they discuss some of the regulatory challenges and the need for policy changes so that more people can benefit from scientific breakthroughs. 

Louisa Wickham is their National Clinical Director for Eye Care and medical director at Moorfields Eye Hospital. In this podcast, she talks to Keith about her passion for ophthalmology, how the eyes can be the window to the rest of the body and her work in diabetic retinopathy. She discusses the importance of empathy in the doctor-patient relationship. She and Keith talk about the role of the charity sector and how technology can empower people with sight loss. 

Keith Valentine talks to some of the PhD students we are privileged to be funding.    Throughout the interview, the theme is one of determination and inspiration. The students discuss conducting research in a time of Covid and why connecting with people affected by sight loss drives their research.

Keith Valentine chats to Dave Clarke, who has just been appointed chief executive of the British Paralympic Association. Clarke represented his country 144 times in blind football, scoring a record 128 goals in the process. Clarke also spent 24 years in banking before becoming Chief Operating Officer. 

In this episode of Eye Research Matters, we speak to Fight for Sight’s newly awarded research fellow Dr Zakariya Jarrar from King’s College.  Dr Jarrar was due to begin his research into the role of the gut microbiome in age-related macular degeneration early in the summer. However, instead Covid-19 saw Zak’s research suspended and during the height of the pandemic, he spent two months working in intensive care for the NHS.