Dr Livia Carvalho
The Lions Eye Institute is delighted to announce we are a beneficiary of Channel 7 Telethon Trust, with six critical programs to receive significant funding in 2024. The Telethon grants, three of which are generously supported by Wen Giving and Hawaiian will enable researchers at the Lions Eye Institute to identify children at high risk of myopia, revolutionise therapies for inherited retinal diseases, and implement crucial screening programs.
Congratulations to the following Lions Eye Institute researchers, whose life-changing work will ensure the children of Western Australia will continue to receive world-leading treatment and care for blinding childhood conditions.
Professor David Mackey AO: Creating eye growth curves for children
The World Health Organization predicts that half the world’s population will have myopia (short-sightedness) by 2050. Myopia is associated with excessive growth of the eye and associated blinding conditions. Professor Mackey aims to create standard eye growth charts for Western Australian children to predict those at greater risk of myopia, allowing for early intervention. Professor Mackey and Dr Sam Lee will be working together on the program and recruiting participants from the Raine Study.
Dr Jessica Mountford
Dr Jessica Mountford: Determining the mechanistic causes of childhood myopia
The younger a child develops myopia, the greater the risk of these children developing high myopia and other severe vision complications. Understanding how genetics and environmental factors interact is essential for mitigating a global pandemic. Dr Mountford and her team will use her zebrafish myopia genetic screening platform to screen for genes of interest, with an aim to develop recommendations for treatment strategies.
Associate Professor Angus Turner: Kids on Country in the Pilbara
Lions Outback Vision has launched a new paediatric eye screening service to remote areas of the Pilbara, identifying children at risk of vision impairment, especially myopia. The program involves employing a Pilbara-based nurse to ensure adequate school screening is conducted. Eye care needs are met via the provision of visiting optometry and ophthalmology teams, and coordinating care pathways. Providing timely intervention at an early age is crucial to prevent permanent vision problems.
Dr Livia Carvalho: Validating RNA base editing for treatment of inherited retinal disease
Inherited eye diseases are significant contributors to global blindness with no cure to date. Current gene replacement therapies only cater to limited conditions. Dr Carvalho will use RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) gene editing technology to precisely identify the underlying genetic mutations of children living with inherited retinal diseases. This approach will revolutionise current therapy approaches, providing safer and more efficient treatments.
Professor Allison McKendrick
Professor Allison McKendrick: Peripheral vision testing in childhood eye/brain disorders
Professor McKendrick’s program aims to develop new efficient methods for evaluating and monitoring vision in children with eye/brain disorders. Peripheral vision can be damaged by a diverse range of eye and brain conditions in childhood including glaucoma, inherited retinal disease, side effects from medication, neurological disorders and tumours. The vision testing strategies that will be developed and evaluated in this program will enable vision loss in children to be identified earlier and more accurately.
Dr Jason Charng: Evaluating treatment efficacy in paediatric retinal gene therapy
Inherited retinal diseases are a major cause of permanent blindness in children and patients with the disease often have poor eyesight which they lose over time. Loss of vision greatly affects the emotional and mental wellbeing of these children as they grow older. Dr Charng is investigating child-friendly methods to assess the degree of vision improvement following retinal gene therapy.
Thank you to Telethon, Wen Giving and Hawaiian, and the Western Australian community for supporting the researchers at the Lions Eye Institute to continue their investigations into blinding eye conditions threatening the vision of children living in Western Australia.
Chiu Chi and Mei Wen from Wen Giving and Hawaiian
