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EYE-RISK

Professor Tunde Peto, Dr Imre Lengyel
Centre for Public Health, Institute for Health Sciences, Centre for Experimental Medicine
Pair of glasses

The EYE-RISK project is funded by the European Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 and is a collaborative research effort to find a cure for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Using a systems medicine approach, EYERISK aims at identifying risk factors, molecular mechanisms and therapeutic approaches for the complex eye disease AMD which is the leading cause of blindness in European countries. 

AMD is a persistent, progressive and incurable disease leading to declining sight that progresses to complete loss of vision. Patients suffering from AMD lose vision in the central part of the retina that is critical for reading, driving a car and recognising faces. EYE-RISK research will specify who is at risk of developing AMD, who is at risk for progression, why and how risks combine to advance progression in specific patients and what we can do to lower their risk. The project will also identify molecular drivers for AMD. This will allow better diagnosis, better risk-based prevention strategies and better development of therapies.

 


Tunde Peto is Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology, Clinical Lead for Diabetic Eye Screening Programme Northern Ireland and a Consultant Ophthalmologist in Medical Retina. She has been named as one of the UK’s 25 most influential researchers who study diabetes complications and is internationally renowned for establishing diabetic retinopathy screening and training programmes. She is the founding member of the European Eye Epidemiology group that brought 27 epidemiological studies together in order to build collaboration and develop further research platforms in Europe.

Dr Lengyel is a leading expert on eye health. His research focusses on age-related macular degeneration, the relationship between dementia in the brain and changes in the retina and the trace minerals influence eye health to introduce nutritional intervention for eye (and possibly brain) abnormalities. Dr Lengyel was also on the Management Board of funding organisation COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and is part of ZINCNET – the network for the biology of zinc.

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