Research

Professor Stanga’s efforts over the past few decades have resulted in numerous key findings which have helped to shape the world of Ophthalmology on a global level.

Prior to joining the The Retina Clinic London back in 2018, Professor Stanga set up and directed the Manchester Vision Regeneration Laboratory (MVR lab) at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) – Wellcome Trust Manchester Clinical Research Facility (CRF), where he worked continuously with his team in the development and introduction into clinical care of new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.

The MVR Lab research teams focus was on developing research in Medical Retina and Vitreoretinal conditions using the most advanced diagnostic and treatment devices in order to offer the best options for clinical care, to improve patient health, as well as benefit the NHS.

The groundbreaking research work achieved by the team helped to pioneer, amongst others, laser-tissue interaction, Swept Source OCT imaging of the cortical vitreous, Wide-Field OPTOS imaging vs. Standard ETDRS Photography, Anti-VEGF vs. PASCAL® laser therapy for diabetic macular oedema, development of an ultrasound-based probe for the surgical excision of vitreous and epiretinal membranes, Electronic Epiretinal Implants for artificial vision in patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa and Age-related Macular Degeneration and Stem-Cell treatment in Stargard’s Disease and Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration.

A key achievement Professor Stanga lead whilst being Director at the lab was the study aiming to establish whether partially sighted patients with loss of central vision due to the Dry form of Age-Related Macular Degeneration could benefit from an electronic retinal implant – the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System. This is also known as the “bionic eye” study in AMD.