In May and June, our supporters rallied to fund critical research that has the potential to restore sight in people with Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) - a type of mito that can cause blindness. The research will be conducted by Dr Raymond Wong at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA).

A word from Dr Raymond Wong

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“If all goes smoothly, we expect that by 2023 we should have completed testing in cell models in the lab and have obtained evidence to support the feasibility of this approach, which would enable us to move forward to testing in pre-clinical models.”
“There are several hurdles we will have to overcome but if successful, this could provide an exciting regenerative approach to replace the optic nerve cells and treat vision loss in LHON patients.”

People in their 20s and 30s are losing their sight due to mito

Dane was 20 when out of nowhere he began to lose his vision.

“I woke up and couldn’t see the numbers on the alarm clock” recalls Dane, who is now 28. “I was the only one without glasses in my family so I assumed it was just my time for them”.

Dane was diagnosed with a rare type of mito called LHON, the disease causes sudden, painless and permanent central vision loss. One eye at a time Dane’s outlook on life became blurred.

“In my future, I want to have kids. I want to be able to play ball with them, drop them off at school, even teach them to drive”

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Mito Foundation is committed to giving Dane and people impacted by LHON a future free from vision loss. We look forward to keeping you updated on Dr Wong's research. Thank you to our generous donors who supported this work.