AMD patient day

People with age related macular degeneration - the leading cause of severe sight loss in Europe and North America - can find out more about the condition and the latest treatments and research from leading specialists and scientists at a free AMD Day in London.

Participants in the day will hear first-hand the progress being made in world-leading research into gene and stem cell therapies for AMD and other forms of macular degeneration and have a chance to discuss the focus for future research to support the needs and aspirations of people living with AMD.  

The event provides an opportunity for those with the condition to share their experiences with consultants in the disease from Moorfields Eye hospital; scientists at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, charities, researchers and healthcare professionals.

The one-day event on Saturday 5 July 2014 is at Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster, and London, SW1P 3EE and runs from 10am to 4pm. Registration closes at 5pm on Friday 27 June 2014.

The day has been funded by NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, being organised by the Department of Genetics at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and is funded by NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, by a grant from the Wellcome Trust and by the Macular Society.

To register, email Andi Skilton at: a.skilton@ucl.ac.uk / or telephone 020 7608 7982.

Editors’ Notes

• Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of severe visual loss in Europe and North America and, with an ageing population, the burden of this disease is projected to increase dramatically.

• As its name suggests AMD predominantly affects the macula, the centre of vision that is important for reading and detailed vision. It can be classified into early and late stages based on specific clinical features. Early AMD is characterised by the presence of druse (tiny yellowish deposits under the retina) and is compatible with reasonable vision. However, many patients with early AMD progress to the vision-threatening late forms of AMD

• Moorfields is one of the world’s leading eye hospitals, providing expertise in clinical care, research and education. We have provided excellence in eye care for more than 200 years and we continue to be at the forefront of new breakthroughs and developments.  We are an integral part of one of the UK’s first academic health science centres, UCL Partners, and also one of the new academic health science networks. We were one of the first NHS organisations to achieve foundation trust status in 2004. 

• We treat the entire range of eye diseases, from common complaints to rare conditions which require treatments not available anywhere else in the UK. We dealt with more than 528,824 attendances in 2012/13 at our main hospital base in London’s City Road and at 21 other sites in and around the capital, enabling us to provide expert care closer to patients’ homes.

• With our research partners at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, we run one of the largest ophthalmic research programmes in the world and have the highest measure of scientific productivity and impact in the world for our research activity.