Foveal development

We use a multidisciplinary approach to answer fundamental questions concerning foveal development and to identify therapeutic approaches for preserving and restoring detailed foveal vision.

The fovea is a highly-specialised area in the central retina. It is the site of maximal visual acuity, facilitates most daily life activities and underlies the majority of our visual function.

For reasons that are not well understood, the fovea is selectively affected in a wide range of retinal disorders. These include common causes of visual impairment in adults (such as age-related macular degeneration) and children (such as albinism).

We aim to better understand the basic developmental and organisational principles of the fovea, and to provide line-of-sight for preserving/restoring high-resolution foveal vision.

Manchester has a diverse, multidisciplinary programme of exploration in this field, with key focus areas including:

• studying the genetics of foveal maldevelopment;
• understanding the links between melanin pigmentation and foveal development;
• imaging the fovea at single-cell resolution in vivo using adaptive optics;
• developing stem cell and organoid models of the human fovea.