Research

Funded by “Fight for Sight”, I am currently researching a knock-out replacement gene therapy for treatment of dominantly inherited Corneal Dystrophy using a revolutionary new gene silencing system based on small nucleolar RNA (the snoMEN system).  Prof Angus Lamond’s group developed this system at Dundee.

I am currently optimizing SnoMEN vectors to silence the genes encoding keratins K3, K12, and the BIGH3 gene, all known to be involved in corneal dystrophy.  These vectors will also express new versions of these genes as replacements. At the end of the project, it will be known if this system works in cells cultured from the cornea and the scene will be set to take this forward into the clinic and start treating patients.

This is a collaborative project between the Universities of Ulster and Dundee.

I am also undertaking a part-time PhD based on this project.

Supervisors

Other key project Collaborators