University of Southampton Beating Blindness Lecture 2025 - Hybrid

We are delighted to present the Gift of Sight ‘Beating Blindness’ Lecture 2025. This will be a hybrid event with the option of taking part in person at The Concorde in Eastleigh, or online from the comfort of your own home.

In-person attendance -

Location: Concorde Club, Eastleigh.

Time: 17.45 - 20.00

Parking: Free Parking is available on site at the Concorde Club. Please enter your licence plate on arrival at the venue to avoid any charges.

Online attendance -

Location: A joining link will be sent to you via email one week before the event.

Time: 18.00 - 19.30 (the talks will start at 18.30)

Meet the University of Southampton vision science team:

Professor Andrew Lotery: Andrew is an ophthalmologist, specialising in medical retina, which led to his academic interests in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), central serous chorio-retinopathy and inherited retinal diseases. He has grown the vision science research group at the University of Southampton over the past 22 years to now include five principal investigators, post-doctoral fellows, PhD students and technicians. Andrew is currently leading an international research project, funded by The Wellcome Trust, exploring machine learning as a tool to better understand AMD. He is also participating in a number of clinical trials, evaluating novel treatments for AMD and inherited retinal diseases. He has published over 400 research papers, raised over £11 million in research income, and been awarded national and international prizes for his research.

Dr Jörn Lakowski: Lecturer, Jörn, specialises in stem cell biology and degenerative retinal diseases. His research interests are retinal disease modelling, retinal development, drug screening and genome engineering. Jörn will explain his studies on human cone photoreceptor development, using a special lab-grown eye model and advanced gene-editing tools to understand these processes and related diseases. His work is leading to improved methods for producing cells for new sight-saving therapies.

Dr Eloise Keeling: Ellie joined the University vision science team as a PhD student, studying cell dysfunction in patients with different stages of age-related macular degeneration and investigating the potential for future therapies. This work has generated numerous publications and has led to the development of a potential treatment for AMD which has now reached clinical trials. Ellie is now a senior research fellow working with Dr Jay Self, investigating novel treatments for children with albinism.

Dr Jay Self: Jay is a paediatric ophthalmologist and Associate Professor with research interests covering a range of disorders affecting vision in children.

Dr Helena Lee: Helena is a neuro-ophthalmologist and Associate Professor specialising in neuro-ophthalmology, paediatrics, and strabismus. She will join us as moderator to field questions to the speakers after their talks.

If you’re joining us in person, you will have the opportunity to meet and chat with other members of the vision science team and see some examples of their research work.

Please arrive from 5.45pm where we will be delighted to welcome you, providing soft drinks on arrival. A bar will be open for a short time after the lecture and the event will close at 8pm.

We will look forward to meeting you.

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