Developing better therapies for corneal blindness
Corneal bindness is the major cause of corneal transplation in Canada. Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy is a common ( 4% lifetime incidence) disease, with a bias towards affecting women. Congenital hereditary endothealila dystrophy (CHED) is a also a genetic disease, but which affects children. These corneal diseases are genetic, yet each individual's disase will differ depending on the specific genetic defect that they have. In my project, I will look at the changes that occur amongst individuals to see what differs. This will help to target the correct therapy to each patient. This is what is called personalized medicine.