Inherited Retinal Diseases: genetics, diagnosis and emerging therapies

Image Description: Declan Meenagh, advocacy and policy manager, holds a white and red spherical device resembling an eye, standing against a plain wall.

Date: Wednesday 22nd July

Time: 7.30pm

Speakers:

Professor Julie Silvestri is a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Belfast Health & Social Care Trust and an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Public Health at Queen’s University, Belfast. She has extensive clinical and research experience working with inherited retinal conditions. As part of Fighting Blindness’s Target 5000, she leads a project that identifies and genotypes patients with inherited retinal diseases in Northern Ireland.

Professor Jane Farrar is the Head of the School of Genetics and Microbiology at Trinity College Dublin and is an expert in the genetic causes of eye disease. Fighting Blindness and Prof Farrar have a long history of collaboration, in fact, Fighting Blindness funded Prof Farrar’s PhD. We have also worked together on many projects including Target 5000.

Declan Meenagh is the Advocacy and Policy Manager at Fighting Blindness, and he lives with an inherited retinal eye condition. He has completed the IPPOSI Patient Education Programme and the Retina International Education Hub training and has advised the HSE, WHO and other bodies on his perspective of living with a rare disease.

Julie will begin by discussing the clinical perspective of inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), genetic testing and what happens next. She will also discuss her own research and chat a bit about any current trials she is aware of.

Jane will follow, and will talk about her own research in Trinity, genomics, genes of unknown significance and other relevant topics.

Declan will finish up the webinar sharing his perspective as a Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) contributor.

If you have a question for our speakers, please email it in advance to research@fightingblindness.ie

Register for the webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eLn5Kw2zTDmuPBKlmE1h3w

This webinar is part of an eye health series, kindly sponsored by J&J