Prof Thomas Ritter - Rare Eye Diseases

Episode 22. A conversation with Prof Thomas Ritter who, with his team in University of Galway, is embarking on a journey of advancing treatments for rare eye diseases in Europe. Restore Vision is a project funded by the European Commission aiming to develop and test new treatments for 7 rare eye diseases (REDs). The consortium joins 10 European key players on rare eye diseases and is led by University of Galway.

With 25+ years of experience in immunology and gene therapies for eye diseases, Prof. Ritter’s research focuses on novel gene and cell therapies. He earned his Ph.D. in 1994 from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, and completed his Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Marseille Center of Immunology in 1995.

At Charité University Hospital in Berlin, Germany, Prof. Ritter led the gene therapy program in experimental transplantation under Prof. Volk’s directorship. He obtained significant funding from the German Research Foundation, Ministry of Health and Research, and industry (Schering).

In 2002, he completed his ‘Habilitation’ in Immunology, becoming an assistant professor in 2003. Since joining the University of Galway in 2005, Prof. Ritter secured significant funding from various agencies, totaling approximately €7M.

He has published 90+ research articles and 30 reviews in peer-reviewed journals, delivered 50+ invited lectures, and served as Vice-Dean for Research at NUI Galway. He is an Associate Editor for Molecular Therapy, serves as a referee for high-impact journals, and is involved in multiple European networks for Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST-Action).

For more information visit:

https://restorevision-project.eu

https://www.aniridia.eu