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Tackling vision loss: enquiries

We receive enquiries about our research from all over the world by email and social media: unfortunately, it is not possible to give medical advice by these methods, as this is not recommended by the UK General Medical Council.

We appreciate however that you have a concern, and we have therefore provided the following information which you may find helpful in deciding what to do next.

Retinitis pigmentosa

If you are interested in gene therapy because you have retinitis pigmentosa then please be advised that the current clinical trials are for X linked retinitis pigmentosa caused by mutations in the RPGRgene (NCT03116113) and choroideremia (NCT03496012) only.

To be eligible for the trials you need to be resident in the United States or the European Union. The clinical trials are being run by Nightstar Therapeutics and we recommend that you contact the company directly to identify plans for your own country.

If you are unsure of the precise cause of your retinitis pigmentosa, we recommend seeing your ophthalmologist locally to gain a genetic diagnosis.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

If you are interested in gene therapy for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (NCT NCT03846193) then please be advised that this trial is also currently open to UK patients only and you need to be referred via your local ophthalmologist who would be able to advise you on your suitability for the study based on the entry criteria.

This clinical trial is currently for patients with dry age-related macular degeneration and a certain profile of blood test.

The trial is being run by Gyroscope Therapeutics: clinicaltrials@gyroscopetx.com

General enquiries

If you have a general enquiry about a retinal problem for which you require a specialist opinion, Prof MacLaren is very happy to see you in his NHS clinic which is normally in Oxford on a Thursday and for this we just need a referral from your GP.

Please note: patients from Wales and Scotland may need additional funding approvals in order to be seen as an NHS patient in England.

Please address the referral letter to: emma.phillipson@ouh.nhs.uk

If you are ineligible for NHS treatment but still wish to see Prof MacLaren for genetic testing, or for an opinion on your eye problem, then please contact his private secretary Raluca: raluca.guta@nuffieldhealth.com