INSIGHT-GA: We receive the Jacqueline Cigrang AMD Research Grant!

We are overwhelmed: at the EURETINA 2026 Congress in Vienna, our lab receives the Jacqueline Cigrang AMD Research Grant. The grant supports innovative research on age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We are incredibly proud and grateful!

What is INSIGHT-GA about?

Geographic atrophy (GA) is the late, dry form of AMD. The retina slowly dies off, and so far we cannot predict well how fast the disease progresses in each patient. In INSIGHT-GA we look at the aqueous humour, the fluid in the front of the eye. We measure soluble and vesicular biomarkers (extracellular vesicles) of the complement and immune system. Our goal is to group patients by what is really going on inside their eyes, and to find markers that help to choose the right therapy for the right patient.

Who will be working with us?

INSIGHT-GA is a real team effort, and we are super excited about it. We will work together with our clinical partners in Marburg, Fulda and Künzell and with the eye clinic in Leipzig, who collect the samples from their patients. For the analysis of extracellular vesicles, we team up again with Dr. Anna Lena Jung from iLung in Marburg.

What comes next?

With this grant, we can start INSIGHT-GA right away in our new lab in Leipzig. We will keep you posted here on our first results.

(official EURETINA photo from EURETINA photo database)

A big thank you to EURETINA and to the King Baudouin Foundation, which manages the grant, and to everyone who helped us put this project together.

Diana