Stories

A team of researchers from Lincoln University are at the forefront of developing treatment options for Batten Disease.

Batten Disease is a fatal genetic disorder, often affecting young children. Once diagnosed, patients suffer from vision loss, struggle with basic functions such as eating, walking and talking, which eventually are lost completely, leaving children as young as 5-6 bedridden without any quality of life. Their condition will then continue to deteriorate, with no hope for treatment or cure.

Dr Nadia Mitchell and Samantha Murray have previously received a CMRF research grant to help change that prognosis. Their work at Lincoln University centres around studying the disease in sheep. These sheep were discovered to carry the same disease and mirror human symptoms. Treating the animals has allowed Dr Mitchell and Murray to develop a unique and hugely successful gene therapy, which has now been approved to move into human trials.

These trials give hope to the family of children affected by this horrific disease and the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation is proud to fund this amazing piece of research.

If you would like to support this important piece of research, you can make a donation here

.