The quest to cure blindness

What is AMD?

Chances are you or someone you love will be affected by AMD. Age-Related Macular Degeneration is a chronic disease of the macula, the part at the centre of the retina which controls the eye’s ability to focus. The ability to read, watch TV, and recognise faces are all impacted by AMD which can have a devastating impact on the quality of life and in many cases the mental health of sufferers. It is the most common macular disease in Australia, responsible for half of all blindness and severe vision loss. About one in seven people over the age of 50 years suffer from AMD to some extent. That is 1.5 million Australians who would benefit greatly from a viable treatment for AMD.

There are two stages of the disease. Wet AMD is characterised by the formation of blood vessels at the back of the eye. Dry AMD is a combination of the breakdown of the Bruch’s membrane, which maintains the function of photoreceptors and the death of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells in the macula. Injections have proven to be an effective treatment for wet AMD but there is no treatment for early, intermediate or late-stage dry AMD.

Researchers from Bond University believe they are on the cusp of reversing vision loss through stem cell therapy in which manufactured synthetic epithelial cells are transplanted into the eye, reversing the death of photoreceptors that detect light and transmit visual signals to the brain. 

Dr Jason Limnios from Bond University’s Clem Jones Centre for Regenerative Medicine has devoted the past 10 years to seeking a treatment for AMD. He has worked closely with patients like Margaret to better understand the condition. 

“They share with me their experience of going blind, their fears of going blind,” he said. “And they think I understand because I understand the cells, but I don't understand how they feel. “All I can see is that their lives are changing and that they're scared - and that motivates me so much."

The Cutmore Bequest

Cora Cutmore’s was a life lived large. The spirited child of a Darling Downs pioneering family was sent to board at the Church of England Girls' School in Warwick but quickly decided it wasn’t for her and arranged a transfer to Warwick State High School. After graduating she travelled to Brisbane to become a nurse and never looked back.

She became a feared and respected matron, a ward manager who effortlessly matched wits with surgeons she encountered in “her” corridors. The spirit of adventure that led her to leave home at such a young age never abandoned her as her career took her to Melbourne, Hobart and rural communities in Queensland before she travelled to England, Europe, the United States and New Guinea.

In her later years she suffered from AMD. A woman who had travelled the world alone, managed wards in busy hospitals, and amassed a fortune through shrewd share trading, had lost her independence. Realising that her time was nearing an end, Cora entrusted her niece and nephew, Don Cutmore and Janet Price, to find a medical research project that would benefit from her multimillion-dollar share portfolio.

Cora Cutmore died on her 93rd birthday in 2016, but her legacy lives on through the work of the Bond University CJCRM. “Apart from my two daughters, this is the important thing in my life,” declared Janet Price, whose mother also suffered from AMD. “I was charged with a very special project, and that was to find a worthy recipient for my aunt's lifelong frugality. A woman who used the same tea bag three times to save money. “And this was the project that my cousin and I, two of her most trusted relatives, came up with. “And we have had not one regret.” The team at The Clem Jones Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

On the day we visited Janet Price to hear the story of her aunt’s life, she had just returned home from doing the rounds as a volunteer for meals on wheels. The retired school principal met us at the door of her Daisy Hill home determined to make her voice heard. “My aim today is to increase awareness of macular degeneration because no one knows much about it, because it’s not fashionable,” she said.

“If we go blind they think, well, she's old and she's had a good life. “That's kind of the feeling we're all getting, all my age group know someone with AMD. “And my friend this morning, we're driving around the different houses for the elderly and she said, ‘No one cares about us anymore. It's always the young, glamorous sicknesses that are hitting the newspapers.

“They don't see the old person who now can't read, can't watch TV, who can't find a number on their phone, can't garden, they can't crochet for the grandchildren. “They can’t even babysit because they can't be trusted with the grandchildren in their house. “It is that impact on families that makes this cause so important.”

CEO Peter Johnstone considered Dr Jones a close friend and mentor and admits he has a personal investment in the work being undertaken at Bond.  “Clem Jones had macular degeneration and it was very debilitating for him,” he said.

“He was a voracious reader, a studier of media who read books on a daily basis and AMD really stopped all that enjoyment for him. "So one of his wishes was to see a cure for macular degeneration.’’ 

Mr Johnstone said he and the staff and board of the Clem Jones Foundation celebrated the success of the Bond research team and were confident the team were on the path to finding a treatment for blindness.

“It's a moonshot and we're proud to be a part of that,” he said. “Clem himself would be down there every day, I'm sure. “He'd be inspired by it. He was always inspired by medical researchers in the same way we are.”

Thank you from Bond University

“We're grateful for all of the support that we've had so far,” Dr Limnios said. “And we are grateful for anyone that understands the help that  we need and is willing to consider it. “We wouldn't be here without that help. 

“We don't take anything for granted and we’re not wasteful because we care about the money. “Every dollar counts to us, and we know that it comes because people want to help us get to a solution.”

Roma, another AMD patient, said: “(A cure) would be brilliant for many, many reasons - not because I could see better and not have to have injections and all of that - but it would be so good for humanity.”