ORBIT mission statement
ORBIT aims to deliver novel translatable therapies capable of preserving and restoring cortical vision in the injured and diseased visual system.
Clinical challenge
Visual impairment and blindness due to retinal injury and disease reduces quality of life and participation in employment for affected individuals. The incidence of progressive retinal neurodegenerative diseases increases steadily with ageing, thus visual impairment represents a significant challenge for our ageing society. Currently there are no therapies in the clinic capable of restoring lost visual function. Therefore, the development of therapies capable of restoring vision represents a clinical priority that would deliver significant socioeconomic impact.
ORBIT
This initiative represents a consortium of European biomedical and clinical neuroscientists encompassing expertise in neuroprotection/regeneration, myelination, inflammation and scarring, as well as enabling technologies for the delivery of novel genes, cells and drug therapies. Individually our investigators have made important contributions to visual system repair that collectively provide ORBIT with the foundations for a number of potentially translatable treatments.
News
ORBIT held its first meeting on June 1st at the University of Birmingham. This meeting aimed to identify key challenges to visual system regeneration, and to workshop feasible and rapidly translatable strategies for functional repair based on our combined skills and technologies.
Future Meetings
The second ORBIT meeting is scheduled for Winter 2018 and will be held at the University of Cambridge.
Participants and Core Skills
| Name |
Institute |
Expertise |
| Dr. Zubair Ahmed |
University of Birmingham |
Molecular neuroscience, viral vectors, gene delivery, optic nerve regeneration, neuroprotection, caspase biology, neurotrophic factors, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, optic neuritis |
| Professor Martin Berry |
University of Birmingham |
Neuroanatomy, in vivo models, spinal cord injury, optic nerve injury, brain injury, neuroscience, gene delivery, neurotrophic factors, synantocytes/NG2 glia |
| Major Richard Blanch, FRCOphth,PhD |
University of Birmingham
|
Retinal injury and apoptosis, protection of retinal cells following trauma and in glaucoma, scarring processes in the eye, visual electrophysiology |
| Dr Richard Eva |
University of Cambridge |
Axon regeneration, axon transport, organelle traffic, in vitro neuronal assays, live-cell imaging |
| Professor James Fawcett |
Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair |
Axon regeneration via modulation of ECM components, e.g. perineuronal nets, CNS / electronic interfaces |
| Professor Dr. Dietmar Fischer |
Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf |
Neuroprotection, Optic nerve regeneration, Peripheral nerve regeneration, Spinal cord injury, Primary neuronal cell culture |
| Dr Laurence Fitzhenry |
Waterford Institute of Technology |
Ocular drug delivery systems |
| Dr. Daniel Fulton |
University of Birmingham |
Oligodendrocyte and myelin development an injury, in vitro and ex vivo models, neural stem cell systems for oligodendrocyte generation |
| Professor Alan Harvey |
The University of Western Australia |
Rat, visual system, retinal ganglion cells, optic nerve, regeneration, spinal cord, gene therapy (AAV, LV), peripheral nerve grafts |
| Professor Ann Logan |
University of Birmingham |
Role of growth factors in scarring and neuron regeneration responses of injured mammalian brain and spinal cord; gene therapy to promote functional reconstruction of damaged neural pathways |
| Professor Keith Martin |
University of Cambridge |
Mechanisms of retinal ganglion cell death in glaucoma and new treatment approaches; optic nerve regeneration; integrin engineering; ocular gene therapy; ocular stem cell transplantation |
|
Professor Dr. Lieve Moons
|
KU Leuven
|
Neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and regeneration in the eye/visual system of teleost fish and rodents, role of growth factors, Rho kinases, and MMPs in visual system de/regeneration
http://bio.kuleuven.be/df/LM/ |
| Professor Joost Verhaagen |
Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience |
Neuroregeneration, Neuroplasticity, Gene Therapy |