Every year thousands of lives are improved through corneal donation. However, valuable
research still needs to be carried out to develop treatments and gain insight into various eye diseases.
St Paul's Research Foundation, our charity, funds ground-breaking research into treating eye disease and preventing sight loss. We have funded two members of staff to set up and run the Liverpool Research Eye Bank (LREB), a facility run between St Paul’s Eye Unit and the Department of Eye and Vision Science at the University of Liverpool. The two units have the joint aim of securing, collecting and supplying human eye tissue for research.
There are a number of diseases, such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy which can damage the delicate tissues of the eye and cause sight loss. Research is needed if more effective treatments are to be found for these conditions. Such research, however, is dependent upon the availability of donated eye tissue. The LREB supports research that will lead to significant advances in our understanding and treatment of these diseases and may lead to new treatments that will improve the quality of life for many people.
Anyone can donate to research regardless of age, health conditions or sight problems. The Liverpool Research Eye Bank gives the families of people who have passed away the opportunity to donate and to make a real difference to ground-breaking research by world-leading scientists.
Message of thanks from the LREB Manager
I would really like to offer my sincere thanks to the donors and their families for agreeing to donate eye tissue to research. I say this as the manager of the LREB but also as a researcher in the Department of Eye and Vision Science. In our department there are so many exciting new research projects making steps towards new treatments and better understanding of eye disease that are only made possible through the use of human ocular tissue. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to access that tissue here in Liverpool so we hope that the people of Liverpool continue to support the LREB.
For more information, please visit our website by clicking here and follow us on Twitter @LivResEyeBank for updates and any upcoming events.