Ocular graft versus host disease (GVHD) is the most common cause (60 to 80 per cent) of long-term disease in patients who receive an allogeneic bone marrow transplant, a procedure that represents a curative treatment for haematological malignancies including leukaemia and lymphoma.
Ocular GVHD is a poorly understood disease with severe symptomatology including vision loss.
Our research aims to elucidate mechanisms of disease that will guide the treatment of ocular GVHD. The research is also likely to be relevant to other ocular surface diseases including transplant rejection, immunological mucous membrane diseases and even dry eye, a common ophthalmic complaint affecting up to 37 per cent of the population globally.
The diagnosis and treatment of these conditions are largely empirical, and there is an urgent need for better immunological biomarkers and logical therapeutic strategies.
