I am the Helmut Ecker Endowed Professor of AMD at the Institute of Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen, Germany. I lead a research team studying the molecular mechanisms driving age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the third leading cause of blindness worldwide. In particular I focus on the role of the complement system, a powerful part of a host’s immune system, in the development of this devastating disease and how the modulation of such as response can be harnessed to slow disease progression. My translational portfolio includes the development of novel complement modifiers that can be used as therapeutics in complement-mediated diseases of the eye, as well as around the body. I also help develop new diagnostic tools for complement driven disease and methods for patient stratification for future treatment. In 2015 I co-founded the Manchester Eye Tissue Repository (ETR) with Prof. Paul Bishop, where genotyped and phenotyped human eye tissue is collected and stored to act as an international resource for academic research into eye diseases: one of the only such resources in Europe.