Aniridia is a devastating ocular disease requiring intensive eye care, social and community support from birth and throughout an individual’s lifetime.

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Organized by Aniridia Europe, with the participation of COST Action ANIRIDIA-NET Chair Prof. Neil Lagali (from the University of Linköping, Sweden) and Vice Chair Prof. Dr Claus Cursiefen (from the University of Cologne, Germany), this live webinar presented the goals and strategies of the ANIRIDIA-NET COST Action, as well as the most significant steps being taken to improve treatment and stimulate research in this disease. Comprising members from over 30 countries in Europe and beyond, ANIRIDIA-NET is the biggest research network focusing on aniridia in the world. This...

A budget of 1.4 million € has been recently granted by the EJP RD (for European Joint Research Program on Rare Diseases) to continue to push forward research on the treatment of aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK), which is the most difficult part of the disease to treat. The AAK-INSIGHT project was proposed by a consortium of researchers from several countries, led by Prof. Neil Lagali (Linköping University, Sweden) and Prof. Daniel Aberdam (CNRS, Biologie, Inserm-Technion, France). The AAK-INSIGHT project aims to...

AniridiaNet #CA18116 action in cooperation with Aniridia Europe are happy to present this short awareness video, hoping it may help understand this rare and complex eye disorder, while INSPIRING RESEARCH efforts in the hopes of improving its diagnosis and treatment. Aniridia patients are unique, help us shape their future! Share this video and SUPPORT the community! Our special thank you to Dr. Christina Grupcheva from Medical University of Varna @MU_Varna_Press, @ScitoonsSpain, and the patients and families involved in the production of this video. ...

On the 26th of October AniridiaNet COST Action CA#18116 members connected for the action’s 4th MC meeting taking place fully online. A highly successful meeting that gathered ophthalmologist, researchers, industry and patient’s organizations members from 22 countries. Thank all the members for their enthusiastic participation in discussing the current progress of the action and stimulating a closer collaboration for improved understanding of aniridia and related eye disorders. ...

Dr. Gerard Boix Lemonche, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Udine (Italy), recently returned from a scientific mission in the research group of Prof. Petrovski at the Center for Eye Research of the University of Oslo, Norway. The purpose of this fruitful mission was for him to gain hands-on technical experience in the production of bioengineered 3D corneal scaffolds, as well as in the isolation of corneal stromal and limbal epithelial stem cells from leftover donor corneas. This training...

Summer is officially here, and that means that kids will have lots of time to get out the paints, pencils, and crayons and become little artists. To encourage this creativity, Aniridia-Net COST Action is inviting children with aniridia or their friends or relations to draw something creative relating to their experience with aniridia. The winning drawings will be used in the design of 2021 calendars and their little authors will get a printed copy of it! We hope that...

Last 14th & 15th may, during the Annual European Conference on Rare Diseases & Orphan Drugs (ECRD), Ivana Kildsgaard, Swedish member of Aniridia Europe and active ANIRIDIA-NET participant, presented an online poster about CA18116 action’s goals and strategic plan towards improving clinical management and research in aniridia patients. Organised by EURORDIS and co-organised by Orphanet and the DIA, the ECRD conference is recognised globally as the largest, patient-led rare disease event in which collaborative dialogue, learning and conversation...

We are pleased to announce the upcoming thesis dissertation of one of ANIRIDIA-NET Action’s participants, Mrs. Hilde R. Pedersen from the University of South-Eastern Norway, which can be followed digitally via zoom using this link. Next May 12th at 13:00 pm CEST she will be presenting the key aspects and conclusions of this aniridia-focused investigative work titled «The Retina in Congenital Aniridia – Structural, Functional and Genetic Variability». Her thesis entails a thorough analysis of variations in genotype and retinal...

Prof. Neil Lagali, Chair of the COST Action ANIRIDIA-NET and researcher at the Linköping University (Sweden), has recently given an interesting live webinar for the Denmark Aniridia Patient Association during its Annual meeting held in Fredericia (Denmark) on the 7th of March, 2020. In his talk, Dr. Lagali presented key findings on the association of genetic alterations and the different clinical manifestations and progression rates observed in the disease, findings that may lay the foundations for a better clinical management...

Patients with congenital aniridia demonstrate altered tear osmolarity and inflammatory profile, as well as ocular surface damage that correlates with the development of meibomian gland dysfunction, keratopathy and dry eye disease. Patients also show foveal hypoplasia with diminished fundus autofluorescence intensity. These are the main conclusions of an aniridia-focused investigative work titled “Congenital Aniridia: Exploring Visual Disabling Manifestations in the Ocular Surface and Ocular Fundus through Clinical and Translational Approaches” that has involved the examination of up to 35 subjects...