my europia

European Training in Myopia Research

MY EUROPIA brings together a major part of the European expertise in myopia research. Biological mechanisms underlying myopia development are widely studied in the USA, Australia and, in particular, in the Far East Asian countries. But until now, there is little contribution from Europe. Current research in myopia is funded exclusively by local governmental institutions. Given the increasing importance of myopia in the industrialized countries, a more bundled approach is necessary and timely. The current application brings together three major approaches to arrest myopia development (1) changing spectacle lens design (2) identifying gene loci that are linked to myopia development (3) investigating the biochemical signalling cascade from the retina to the sclera that controls axial eye growth and testing its pharmacological intervention.

A unique aspect of the research training in this Research Traning Network (RTN) is that we will train physicists, computer science students and engineers in biological techniques. On the other hand, students of biology and medicine will have an introduction to the technological aspects, in addition to the cutting-edge and more specialized training in the particular topics of their projects.

updated 16.12.2009