Press Office

Each year we award grants to support supervisors and their students, as they lead to a PhD qualification and ideally, an exciting career in vision research. This year we have awarded £412,900 to three supervisors at University of Manchester, St George’s, University of London and Northumbria University, to build capacity in vision research.

Each year the Zakarian Awards are announced, whereby Fight for Sight / Vision Foundation and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) award early-stage ophthalmologists the means to conduct research to further cures and treatments for sight loss. This year a total of £73,394 has been awarded to three individuals to gather pilot data, learn research skills and explore their potential as vision researchers. Below we explore who they are and what they’ll be working on.

Would you like to cheer for our runners at the London Marathon? We are very excited to get together at the marathon this year especially and will be supporting runners across Fight for Sight and Vision Foundation.

What’s it like applying for funding from an NGO such as Fight For Sight / Vision Foundation? Below we’ll introduce you to five people who know exactly what it’s like and they hope their experiences can help other researchers secure career-changing funding too.

This year we’ve got a whopping 37 people running the London marathon for us, and in doing so raising funds and awareness to save sight and change lives. Excitingly, one of those runners will be our very own Jessica Norfolk, who works as our Finance and HR Assistant.  We caught up with Jess to find out about how she’s feeling about taking part in this iconic event.

Dr Mervyn Thomas, PhD, FRCOphth, is a Clinical Associate Professor/Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and Clinical Lead of the Ulverscroft Eye Unit. Based at the University of Leicester Ulverscroft Eye Unit, Dr Thomas has received the Wolfson Prize (Royal College of Physicians), the Alcon research prize, the PhD prize for the best thesis across the College of Life Sciences, and the European Paediatric Ophthalmology Society Prize. Research kick-started by Fight for Sight and Nystagmus Network sparked Dr Thomas’ passion for Ophthalmology and has led to a greater understanding of infantile nystagmus and the Leicester grading system for foveal hypoplasia.

Today is Westminster Eye Health Day (December 11, 2023), and, as a partner in The Eyes Have It, we are joining a rallying cry to improve eye health care in England and the UK.

Fight for Sight/Vision Foundation supports a commitment to sustainable science that works for everyone regardless of gender.

Fight for Sight / Vision Foundation has signed a joint letter from the disability sector calling for urgent support with the cost of living for disabled people.

Gemma Owen joined us for a visit to a lab researching Stargardt disease.

Hosted at Westminster on October 26, Vis-Ability was a UK first. An event bringing together and celebrating leaders with visual impairments and key members of the sight loss community, to grow our influence and impact across society.

Stephen White is co-founder of CUREUsher, which exists to support people living with Usher Syndrome and to influence policy changes. Our CEO, Keith Valentine, spoke to him in our latest podcast. Read the Q&A

Learn more about birdshot chorioretinopathy, corneal dystrophy, stargardt disease, uveal melanoma, and wolfram syndrome.

Did you know that reducing the prevalence of eye conditions by just one percent each year could avoid costs to the UK economy of up to £3 billion over the next decade? The first step for all of us could be being better informed about eye conditions and eye health – so how much do you know? Take this quick quiz to learn more about the human eye and conditions that can affect it…

The UK’s scientific community receives a boost today following an announcement by the UK government that we have re-joined Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship scientific research funding programme.

Fight for Sight has become an affiliate of Our Future Health, which collaborates to use volunteer data to help researchers discover new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases, including eye disease.

Fight for Sight is a grant-making organisation, which means we give funds to some of the UK's top emerging and established researchers to conduct vision research.

Today (July 5, 2023) is a genuine day of celebration. It marks two important days for our community 75 years of the National Health Service (NHS) and Research Appreciation Day. Research Officer, Rosie Sturt, takes time out to celebrate them both.

With the appointment of Ellie Southwood MBE as Director of Social Impact, Fight for Sight / Vision Foundation becomes the only organisation in the sight loss sector with an Executive Leadership Team that is made up of 50% of people who have lived experience of sight loss.

Held over two sunny days in June, the Drugs, Devices and Data conference featured inspiring talks from leaders in vision research. Rosie Sturt attended and reported back.

We have awarded three PhD Studentships in Oxford, Manchester and Northern Ireland. The highly prestigious awards will provide funding of £110,000 over three years, enabling the successful researchers to recruit a student who will carry out a high-quality research project into sight loss.

Fight for Sight has awarded £1.2 million to fund groundbreaking research projects with exciting potential to transform the lives of people with sight loss.

Fight for Sight is delighted to welcome Gemma Owen as its new Young Ambassador. Gemma, 20, is an international dressage rider, business owner, and TV personality. She is keen to use her profile to raise awareness of sight loss.

A Westminster Hall debate is scheduled for Wednesday, May 17, on the potential merits of a national eye health strategy. Marsha de Cordova, MP, will open this debate. We explain what a national eye health strategy could cover and list 5 reasons why we're backing the calls to deliver one.

Fight for Sight and its partners have awarded funding to progress novel research ideas with the potential to help improve the lives of people affected by sight loss. The funding will help early career researchers to advance exciting, early-stage science, ideally to a stage where it can attract more investment for further development.

On International Guide Dog Day, Keith Valentine celebrates his guide dog Dottie and explores the partnership he shares with her.

Fight for Sight Chief Executive Keith Valentine warns that the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is a warning shot for the UK government. The government needs to step up and invest in life sciences, specifically in sight loss, which is underfunded despite the cost to individuals and the UK economy.

Early career awards granted by Fight for Sight in partnership with the Royal College of Ophthalmologists

Adam Watson lives with a degree of sight loss and has been inspired to join the Fight for Sight by tackling the eye2eye challenge to fundraise for more sight saving research.

Researchers at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and the Western Eye Hospital have developed a new type of eye test for glaucoma.