What are researchers learning about the potential to repair the retina and restore its ability to sense light?
Join Retina Australia’s 2026 award recipients, Professor Erica Fletcher and Dr Daniel Urrutia-Cabrera, for a free webinar exploring their research and what it could mean for the future of inherited retinal disease. Hear about the questions driving their work, the progress being made and the challenges that remain.
Taking place on Wednesday 18 November 2026 at 7 pm AEDT via Zoom, the webinar welcomes people living with inherited retinal disease, families, carers, health professionals and anyone interested in retinal research.
Can we help the retina sense light again?
Presenter: Professor Erica Fletcher
Professor Erica Fletcher heads the Visual Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Melbourne and is the recipient of Retina Australia’s 2026 Hall of Fame Award, recognising more than 25 years of contribution to retinal research. Her work investigates why the retina’s light-sensing cells are lost in disease and explores potential ways to protect or replace them. Through her research, leadership and mentoring, Erica has helped advance understanding of inherited retinal disease and supported the next generation of vision researchers.
Professor Erica Fletcher facing the camera and smiling
Dr Daniel Urrutia-Cabrera in a laboratory, facing the camera and smiling
Repairing the Retina with Cellular Reprogramming
Presenter: Dr Daniel Urrutia-Cabrera
Dr Daniel Urrutia-Cabrera is a Research Fellow in the Cellular Reprogramming Research team at the Centre for Eye Research Australia and the recipient of Retina Australia’s 2026 Emerging Scientist Award. His research explores how cellular reprogramming — changing a cell’s identity and function — could help generate new light-sensing cells in the retina. He is co-inventor of a patented technology being investigated as a potential approach to retinal repair. This work remains at an early stage and is not yet available as a treatment.
Past Webinars
October 2025
Retinal Remodelling, Female Carriers of XLRP and Navigating Genetic Counselling and Testing for Inherited Eye Conditions
October 2024
Cell therapy, genetic research and a patient’s perspective
May 2024
Research Update Event – Geographic atrophy and AMD