Welcome to the Translational Retinal Research Laboratory

Welcome to the Translational Retinal Research Laboratory, led by A/Prof. Su Xinyi, Executive Director, Institute of Molecular Cell Biology, A*STAR.

Through multi-disciplinary collaborations with (i) scientists from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI), and more, (ii) clinicians from the National University Hospital (NUH), and (ii) industry professionals, our long-term goal is to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of retinal diseases and innovative tools to improve the outcomes of vitreo-retinal surgery.

Our work is focused on two areas:

Biomaterials for Vitreo-retinal surgery, drug and cellular delivery
In collaboration with materials scientists (Dr. Loh Xianjun, Institute of Materials Research and Engineering), we have developed novel hydrogel materials with unique characteristics. These hydrogels are suitable for use as retinal tamponade agents in vitreo-retinal surgeries. They also have the potential of being used as sustained drug delivery systems and scaffolds for stem cell therapeutics.

Retinal Cellular and Gene Therapeutics
The prognosis of patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remain poor despite availability of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections. Our lab is currently developing stem cell-based therapeutics for the treatment of end-stage AMD. We are also developing RNAi-based gene therapeutics for inherited retinal degeneration conditions.