Student opportunities
Engineering delivery systems to target genetic retinal diseases
This research position is open to expressions of interest from Honours students.
Project title: Developing engineered delivery systems to target genetic diseases of the retina
Supervisors: Dr Sandy Hung and Professor Alex Hewitt
Email: sandy.hung@unimelb.edu.au
Suitable for: Honours
This project aims to engineer next-generation gene delivery systems for personalised treatment of inherited retinal diseases, a leading cause of blindness with limited therapeutic options.
While gene therapy in the eye holds promise, existing delivery methods may lack the specificity and versatility needed to address the diversity observed in the gene mutations that can cause various inherited retinal diseases.
To overcome these limitations, in this project we aim to engineer delivery vectors to improve the cell targeting specificity and transduction efficiency as a first step towards the development of new therapeutic treatment for inherited retinal diseases.