Celebrating Women and Girls in Science: Spotlight on Career Development Awardee, Anna Ridgeway!

Fighting Blindness recognises and celebrates the essential contributions of women in advancing vision research for the benefit of those affected by sight loss. To mark International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2026, we are delighted to spotlight one of our Career Development Awardees.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science, celebrated each year on 11 February, recognises the critical contributions of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The day also highlights the importance of ensuring women and girls have equal opportunities to pursue and thrive in scientific careers. At Fighting Blindness, we are proud to support and celebrate women researchers who are helping to shape the future of vision science.

Supporting the Next Generation of Vision Researchers

Since 2022, Fighting Blindness has offered Career Development Awards (CDAs) to support PhD students, early-career postdoctoral researchers, and clinicians working in the field of vision loss. These awards help recipients develop new skills, build international collaborations, and progress their careers through activities such as specialist training, secondments in leading laboratories, and presenting research at conferences.

Awardee Spotlight: Supporting Patients Through Genetic Discovery

Anna Ridgeway, a PhD student at Trinity College Dublin, was a recipient of the 2025 Career Development Awards. Fighting Blindness spoke with Anna to discuss the impact this award has had on her work:

Anna, can you tell us a little about your research?

“My research funded by Research Ireland (GOIPG/2025/8455) aims to identify the genetic causes of inherited retinal degenerations. In particular, I’m interested in conditions that affect not just the eyes but also other organs too. By pinpointing the DNA alterations in patients, this helps us to better understand these complex conditions. It also helps to provide people with answers as to why they are losing their sight and how these conditions could be passed on to their family members. Importantly, now that we are in the era of gene therapy, a genetic diagnosis is essential for participation most clinical trials”

What first sparked your interest in this area of work?

“I was always interested in genetics, even in secondary school, and I knew I wanted to work with patients. I was first drawn to this area during my undergraduate lectures with Professor Jane Farrar. I remember one lecture in particular when Professor Farrar showed us a before and after video of a little boy who received Luxturna, the first approved gene therapy to treat a genetic eye disease. I was mesmerised by this boy’s transformation and was instantly hooked to this research topic. This highlighted the importance of genetic diagnoses for patients which motivated me to pursue this PhD.”

How has receiving this award supported your PhD research?

“With the career development award from Fighting Blindness Ireland, I travelled to Nijmegen in the Netherlands for a secondment in Professor Susanne Roosing’s laboratory. Professor Roosing and her team are world-leading experts in eye genetics and I had the opportunity to work with them in the prestigious Radboud University Medical Centre. As part of this fantastic opportunity, I completed training on the analysis of single molecule molecular inversion probe sequencing. This is a test used to analyse the DNA of patients. Learning this new technique has added to my skillset and enabled me to network with Professor Roosing and her team for future collaborations.”

Looking ahead, what are the potential benefits of this work for patients?

“During this project, I will analyse the DNA sequence of Irish patients. This will help to pinpoint the genetic cause of sight loss in many of these patients which is of direct benefit for genetic counselling purposes and access to future treatments. The results of this project are also beneficial for other patients globally as we strive to publish our findings to help healthcare professionals and scientists provide genetic diagnoses for their patients too. Publishing our work in this way will broaden the community’s understanding on the genetic causes of sight loss.”

How do you think this experience will impact your career going forward?

“The training secondment will undoubtedly have a positive impact on my future career. This opportunity as taught me a new technique which I can add to my skillset and use in the future. This experience enabled me to connect and network with Professor Susanne Roosing and her incredible team for further collaborations. Additionally, we plan to publish the results of this study which will add to my repertoire of publications and put me on the map as a researcher. Most importantly, this secondment really consolidated that research and working with patients is exactly what I want to pursue for my career.”

As we celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science, what advice would you share with girls or women considering a career in science?

“I think it’s really important to always seize every opportunity that comes your way because often they can lead to even bigger things. I would advise anyone starting out in science to reach out to peers and seniors for guidance, particularly for career advice or future planning. I have benefitted from this immensely and found that people are always happy to help. Finally, I would say if there is a certain topic area that interests you, stick with it because making advancements and achieving your goals really makes all the hard work worth it!”

This International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are proud to celebrate Anna and all our funded women researchers who are helping to drive progress in vision research and improve outcomes for people living with sight loss.

To learn more about Fighting Blindness-funded research, check out our ‘Meet your Researchers’ page on our website or email us at research@fightingblindness.ie.