About the Research Foundation
The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital Research Foundation was established by Mr. Alan Mooney in 1974. The committee provides funding and clinical service support to a wide range of research into diseases of the eye and of the ear, nose and throat. It provides joint funding for up-to-date equipment and imaging techniques, which have benefited patients of the Hospital and is also used to provide important clinical data and measurements in the various research projects supported by the Foundation.
Over recent years, funding for research in the unit has depended on charitable donations from the general public and funds raised from services provided by the Research Unit relating to Ophthalmic and Auditory disorders.
Services Provided:
The Ophthalmic and ENT services provided are as follows; -
- Electro-oculography
- Electro-retinography
- Brain Stem Evoked Responses
- A-Scan Ultrasound for IOL measurement
- Colour Vision Testing
- Dark Adaptometry
- Optical Coherence Tomography
- Retinal Photography and Fluorescein Angiography
- Visually Evoked Responses
- G.D.X
- Visual Fields (Humpfrey and Goldmann)
- Pattern E.R.G.
Research Activity:
The main function of the Research Foundation is to fund research projects which forward our understanding of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. We also provide equipment and financial support to staff members at the Eye and Ear Hospital and elsewhere throughout the country to carry out Research Projects.
The Research Foundation also provides funding for trainee doctors to undertake higher diploma or degree studies and also to fund research fellows in work linking the Research Foundation with outside colleges such as Trinity College Dublin and The Dublin Institute of Technology.
Co-operation with Trinity College Genetics Department: In Collaboration with the Ocular Genetics Unit at Trinity College, Dublin, the Research Foundation has been active in identifying large Irish families with forms of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). To date, this collaboration has resulted in the identification of a number of genes including Rhodopsin, Peripherin/RDS and the mitochondrial gene. Recently, the group identified a mutation in the IMPDH1 gene in a large Spanish kindred with a severe and early onset form of autosomal dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa. Other projects include research into macular degeneration, the adverse effects of cigarette smoking on the retina, the corneal stem cell project and micro-RNA profiling.
Committee Members:
- Ms Noel Horgan (Chair)
- Mr Mark Cahill Treasurer
- Ms Aoife Doyle Committee Member
- Mr David Mooney Committee Member
- Mr Paul Kenna, Lecturer in Ocular Genetics
- Professor Susan Kennedy Committee Member
- Mr Dara Kilmartin Committee Member
- Mr Stephen Hone Committee Member
- Professor Conor Murphy
- Ms Cathy King, Committee Member/Administrator
- Ms Hilary Dempsey, Committee Member/Technician
- Mr Hugh Nolan Committee Member/Photographer
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