13 Mar, 2018
Glaucoma, known as the Silent Thief of Sight, is a major cause of irreversible vision loss currently affecting over 64 million people globally. In the absence of preventative therapy, a further 68 million will lose their sight over the next 25 years.
There are currently no effective treatments available to protect the retina from glaucomatous degeneration. But Queensland Eye Institute Foundation (QEIF) Senior Scientist, Associate Professor Nigel Barnett, believes that vision loss in glaucoma patients can be significantly reduced or prevented by effective retinal protection with next generation, dual-acting anti-inflammatory antioxidant compounds.
Together with the QEIF Research team, he is now targeting the delivery of unique anti-inflammatory antioxidants to the retina with the hope that this significantly protects the retina and preserves visual function (i.e. reduces blindness) in insidious diseases like glaucoma.
Nigel achieved his Doctorate at the University of Oxford. Since moving to Australia, he has established a successful research career in the field of retinal neuroscience, with his main interest being retinal degenerative diseases. He is passionate about his research into the mechanisms underlying retinal degeneration in diseases such as glaucoma.