This award was announced at the official opening of the Annual Congress of EURETINA - European Retina Society, the world's leading event in this field.

The EURETINA Clinical Research Award distinguishes personalities who actively conduct clinical research in the area of medical retina, which enhances the knowledge of these pathologies and consequently the improvement of available treatments. The awarded project, led by Rufino Silva and Inês Laíns, will allow AIBILI to develop an innovative study using metabolomics (analysis of small molecules in biological samples) to identify markers of progression of age macular degeneration (AMD).

IMD is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Currently, it is not possible to reliably predict which people with AMD will progress to the advanced forms that lead to blindness caused by this disease. This study bridges that gap and helps to identify possible therapeutic targets to develop new drugs for AMD.

This project will be developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE)/ Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, where Ines Laíns is also a researcher. "It is with great satisfaction that I receive this European award that highlights the quality and innovative nature of the research in ophthalmology that we have been carrying out," says Rufino Silva. For Inês Laíns, this recognition "is a unique opportunity to boost a pioneering project in the area of age macular degeneration and strengthen the collaboration between AIBILI and the MEE".