Our new Chief Scientific Advisor is Professor Alan Stitt. Here, he shares his passion for scientific research, translation into impact to prevent vision loss and developing the next generation of vision researchers. He also discusses his relationship with Fight for Sight and explains why a collaborative approach can unlock the key to Save Sight. Change Lives.
As our first Chief Scientific Advisor, what are Professor Stitt’s ambitions for the future of our scientific research funding? A core focus, he said, will be to encourage collaboration between scientists and clinicians and harness expertise from diverse disciplines.
“As a community, we must set ambitious goals to prevent vision loss and find ways to enable cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional research teams to deliver on a common purpose. Fight for Sight is a key funder for vision research in the UK, and so it can help drive such approaches and deliver impact for patients”.
It’s a concept Fight for Sight is already embracing by launching the UK Vision Research Network. A UK first, it will bring brilliant minds together to tackle the biggest challenges in vision loss through innovative research based on collaboration. The first step in building this network is a doctoral training programme, which will open in April 2025.
Read more about the UK Vision Research Network. The initiative being launched by Fight for Sight is the first in the UK.
“It's hard for a single researcher or a small research group to single-handedly deliver world-class research, achieve translational flow from basic science into the clinical realm and deliver patient benefit.
“To address today's big vision loss challenges, we need to be creative in bringing researchers together to pool expertise and share resources in a collaborative approach spanning many years."
Professor Stitt knows first-hand that skills are transferable.
His route into vision research was unconventional. Following a PhD in molecular cell biology in parasitology, he took a postdoctoral role in ophthalmology, using his skills to study diabetic retinopathy.
Professor Stitt conducted several postdoctoral projects and, following the award of an RD Lawrence fellowship through Diabetes UK, spent time in the United States. He returned to Belfast in 2001 to take up the Harold McCauley Chair in experimental ophthalmology.
“We need to be creative in bringing researchers together to pool expertise and share resources in a collaborative approach spanning many years.”
Discovering and developing talent
"To succeed, we’ll also need to develop the talents of our next-generation researchers," said Professor Stitt.
"When I look back on my career, I'm probably most proud of the talented young researchers I have helped and advised. Many of them are now in research leadership positions in the UK and across the world, and I am genuinely proud that I've played a role in keeping them [within the field of vision loss research].”
It's a passion we share through our mission to fund the brilliant minds and bright ideas, putting change in sight for everyone impacted by vision loss.
“There are examples of PhD students who received a studentship award from Fight for Sight, stayed in the ophthalmology and vision science research field and provided significant advances in the understanding and preventing vision loss," said Professor Stitt.
“I'm probably most proud of the young researchers I have helped and advised.”
The value of the patient's voice
It’s also, he said, important that researchers engage with patients. Professor Stitt said, “It’s easy for scientists to remain in their laboratories without fully appreciating what it is like to live with vision impairment. Input from people with the lived experience is very important to shape all facets of vision research, from the design of projects through to their implementation.”
A key part of Professor Stitt’s role will support us as we evolve our Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement, or PPIE, strategy.
Read your stories of vision loss
Working with patients motivates the professor to conduct research into diabetic retinopathy. "I was talking to a person who has been living with diabetes and attending the diabetic retinopathy screening service.
“He had been going to screening for many years and was always given the all-clear, but on the last visit, he was told that he had the early stages of retinopathy. His ophthalmologist could not tell him how quickly his retinopathy would develop and could not predict whether he would lose vision or need injections into his eye and, if he did when that would happen.
“It is true that there have been tremendous advances, and we now have many useful therapies that can prevent blindness. However, we still need to improve precision and fully understand what drives vision loss in individuals and then tailor their therapy accordingly. This is one of the challenges we face in preventing chronic vision loss."
“We still have very large numbers of people who are living with the spectre of chronic vision impairment. While there have been some huge advances in recent years, we need better options to prevent disease at an earlier stage.”
Funding research that tackles unmet need
Tackling unmet need goes to the heart of Fight for Sight’s Scientific Research Strategy, which Professor Stitt introduced as Chair of our Research Grants Assessment Panel (RGAP). His tenure only recently ended and followed many years as a member.
“My relationship with Fight for Sight started as a researcher applying for grant support. Like all researchers, then and now, there is reliance on funding organisations to make awards for projects that are strategically aligned and deemed meritorious. I am indebted to Fight for Sight for supporting many projects and PhD studentships."
Later, as a member and, more recently, chair of the Research Grants Assessment Panel, Professor Stitt was able to support the assessment and decision-making process.
So, what has he learned from seeing grant applications from both sides?
Awarding scientific research grants
The Research Grants Assessment Panel is one part of the rigour we apply to assessing and awarding grants. We also have a Social Grants Assessment Panel (SGAP). Both expert panels form a key step in our funding decision process.
"Researchers submit grants that outline their research ideas to address an important aspect of vision loss. These are peer-reviewed by international experts and our job as RGAP members is to assess these reviews and provide our own expert assessment on the merits of all submitted proposals.
“There is a finite amount of support that can be given, so it’s a very competitive process, but every grant application receives fair scrutiny. I'm proud of the role that that I and my fellow RGAP members have played in our deliberations and decisions to recommend the best quality research” said Professor Stitt.
“RGAP ensures that all recommendations are always based on scientific excellence and alignment with the strategic priorities of Fight for Sight.”
He added: “RGAP ensures that all recommendations are always based on scientific excellence and alignment with the strategic priorities of Fight for Sight.”
Professor Stitt has witnessed numerous successes as an RGAP member and Chair. "For me, one of the most exciting developments in our field is the roll-out of new therapeutics for Inherited Retinal Disease.”
“Based on recommendations from RGAP, Fight for Sight has supported many such projects at a very early stage. It is fantastic to see how this basic discovery science has advanced and, in many cases, been translated into the clinic. This is especially evident in gene therapy where we have witnessed recent breakthroughs to help patients avoid severe vision loss.”
A bold approach to research funding
Such successes, says Professor Stitt, are due to a bold approach and a willingness of Fight for Sight to fund early-stage scientific research. “RGAP has always adhered to supporting excellent basic and clinical science, provided there is a clear opportunity, in time, to benefit patients. In this respect, the organisation has become an important anchor for funding vision research in the UK.”
Similarly, a willingness to fund early career researchers is beneficial.
“Funding PhD studentships and fellowships for young vision scientists is so important, especially now when the academic research landscape has become even more challenging. Based on my experience, when young people get this type of support, it can be a significant boost for their career and reinforces their commitment to stay in the vision field.”
“Proportionately, Fight for Sight puts a lot of its resources into PhD studentships, demonstrating a firm commitment to growing the next generation.”
“If we had more money, that line would go a bit further, and we would fund maybe five or six projects instead of three or four.”
More money, more scientific research
Often, projects are rejected due to a lack of funds.
“If we assess 15 grants, we might only fund three or four. That isn’t to say the grants below that line are not meritorious. Many projects contain very good science, but it's a competition, and they might fall outside the funding bracket. Now, if we had more money, that line would go down a bit further, and we would fund maybe five or six projects instead of three or four.”
With more money available, perhaps more fellowship funding would be possible. “Fellowships give a boost to a young person's career in vision science, whether it's in the clinical side or in basic science. Such fellowships can be expensive because they might run to five years.”
“However, such fellowships they are drivers for new group leaders of the future, and in many cases, our universities are then in a position to take over those salaries and to make full-time academic positions.”
The ability to fund longer-term grants would also make a real difference, says Professor Stitt. “Three years is not that long. It doesn't allow researchers that much space to think deeply about things and push the agenda further. If we can get to a point where we fund five-year or program grants, I think you can achieve much more.”
Equally, he’d love Fight for Sight to be able to fund “multiple programmatic grants…These larger funding schemes give researchers space and time to be more ambitious to address an important area of unmet need. For example, they can also enable groups of like-minded researchers to come together from multiple institutions.”
Bringing people together to put change in sight
As a funder of scientific research and social change, Fight for Sight is uniquely placed to bring together scientists and people with lived experience. This, too, presents opportunities, says Professor Stitt. “I think we have the potential to bring people together and let both groups understand and appreciate what each is doing.
“For scientists, the questions they are answering and what they're seeking to deliver becomes more real and tangible. It’s something our researchers need to be doing more. Often, we have PhD students working in a laboratory who know the molecular basis of the disease that they're working on but know very little about what it's like to live with.”
Bringing together scientists from multiple fields also presents opportunities.
“Multi-disciplinary approaches have immense value, and bringing in diverse expertise can significantly enrich the level of research and discovery. For example, a computer specialist or data scientist coming into the vision loss arena research space can quickly collaborate and enable rapid advances. We have difficult questions to address, and bringing new expertise and perspective into the field can make a huge difference.”
With Professor Stitt as our CSA, we look forward to a brighter future for everyone impacted by vision loss.
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