What role does our immune system play in the development of AMD?

Professor David Kavanagh from Newcastle University joined us for our My Macular and Me webinar to discuss his three-year research project, which aims to find a treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Prof. Kavanagh’s research looks at a specific part of the immune system called the ‘complement system’, which, when damaged, can lead to AMD. There are some mutations that have been strongly linked to an increased risk of developing AMD. This project sets out to analyse the different mutations in the gene ‘CFI’ which is highly involved in AMD.

If we can better understand how mutations in the CFI gene can cause damage, patients could be screened for those mutations and this could lead to clinical trials or treatments tailored to the patients.