Current treatments for glaucoma focus on reducing elevated pressure placed on retinal ganglion cells – the cells in the eye that die off as the disease progresses. However, no current treatment directly supports the survival of these cells.

It’s a challenge that Professor Pete Williams, founder of CERA’s new Neuroprotection and Repair Unit, is working to change.

“It’s very much like how healthy eating and exercise will reduce a person’s risk of developing many diseases, but will not cure the disease directly,” Professor Williams explains.

“Using eye drops or surgery to reduce pressure in the eye reduces the risk of cells in the eye dying, but this alone isn’t enough to fully prevent their loss.”

Professor Williams’ research aims to transform the way glaucoma is managed and continues his already long-standing close collaboration with CERA.

Power boost

Professor Williams’ work focuses on finding better ways to help retinal cells stay alive by supplying them with the energy they need to function.

In glaucoma, this led him to nicotinamide – a form of vitamin B3 that is crucial to the proper function of retinal ganglion cells.

Together with colleague Dr Flora Hui, he has spent several years investigating whether nicotinamide provided alongside current glaucoma treatments can support nerve cell function in the eye.

This extra energy that nicotinamide provides aims to gives cells a major boost and helps keep them alive alongside current glaucoma treatments to protect people’s vision for longer.

Early research, including a 2020 study showing “significant improvement” in the visual function of glaucoma patients, has now progressed to a longer‑term clinical trial at CERA. If successful, it could represent a major shift in how the condition is treated.

Beyond nicotinamide, Professor Williams’ long‑term goals include developing prescription medications for glaucoma and, eventually, gene therapies that can prevent vision loss at all stages of the disease.

His work may also have applications in other conditions where brain and nerve cells die including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and motor neurone disease.

Close ties

In 2025, Professor Williams announced he would relocate to CERA from Karolinska Institutet to establish the Neuroprotection and Repair Research Unit and take his research to the next stage.

He will continue studying the root causes of glaucoma and exploring new treatments that support the survival of retinal cells to protect vision.

Professor Williams is enthusiastic about what lies ahead.

“I think we’re very close to having realistic drug therapies for glaucoma that don’t just aim to lower pressure in the eye,” he says.

“I also believe we are close to testing gene therapies that can protect the retina and optic nerve long term from a single injection.

“We’re also finding new ways to do clinical trials much more quickly – I think ophthalmology research is going to really jump into the information age where things can go so much faster.”

Professor Williams has collaborated with CERA researchers throughout his international career and is excited to continue this under the same roof.

“This is an excellent place to work closely alongside a wide array of researchers – all experts in their respective fields – and accelerate each other’s work towards having an impact on the lives of people at risk of losing their vision,” Professor Williams says.

“It’s a fantastic environment where I can expedite findings from the bench to the clinic all in one house, the cherry on top being that I’m in a warm, sunny, friendly city.”

Professor Williams’ work is supported by the CERA Foundation.

This story was originally published in Creating the future in sight: Annual Review 2025.