Category Archives: News

7th Birdshot charity shoot

Posted on by
Reply
Dylan from the Royal Berkshire Shooting School giving the instructions for the day

The Royal Berkshire Shooting Ground provided the perfect venue for twenty seven teams of four and attracted both novice shots and experienced guns to show their competitive skills, representing companies as diverse as Almacantar, Canary Wharf Contractors, Faithful & Gould, McLaren Properties, Malcolm Hollis and Sir Robert McAlpine. Organiser, host for the day and prime mover behind the Birdshot charity fundraiser was the John F Hunt Group. 

Now firmly established as the ‘go-to’ event in the London construction industry calendar, the 7th. annual Birdshot Uveitis charity clay pigeon shoot was again supported by a huge contingent from the UK’s property and construction sectors and proved to be both a beautiful day and a great competitive and fundraising success. 

Breakfast briefing over, a morning of testing clay shooting followed and after some ferociously competitive performances, Top Gun went to leading architect, Robin Partington with a score of 93, whilst Top Team prize was claimed by Cushman & Wakefield, with Digby Flower, David Tye, Andy Miles and John Rand accruing a collective score of 428.

Shooting over for the day, John F Hunt’s Group Chairman, John Hall, himself a sufferer from the visual impairment caused by Birdshot Uveitis, introduced fellow sufferer, Fiona Gee, who related her own experience of the debilitating condition. Richard Lee, Deputy Director of NIHR Moorfields Clinical Research Facility and Lead for Experimental Medicine, Inflammation and Immunotherapy, then explained how monies raised were helping to fund important research into this horrendous yet little-known eye disease. 

The auction that ended the day was skilfully and amusingly conducted by David Hunt of John F Hunt Power and bidding wars broke out across the crowded dining room for lots including weekends in Naples and at the George V in Paris, all helping to raise a stunning total of £72,000. As John Hall concluded; “Today has been a brilliant success both in informing more people about Birdshot and in raising research funding. I would simply like to send a heartfelt vote of thanks to everyone who took part, for their generosity and that of our prize donors.” 

May 29th2019

Birdshot day 2018, SESSION 1

Posted on by

Birdshot Uveitis Society (BUS) is delighted to bring you the talks from our Birdshot Day held on 17th November 2018. We are very grateful to the media team at Moorfields NIHR Biomedical Research Centre who have kindly edited and put the presentations together for BUS.

Below you will find the videos of the talks given in Session 1. These provide an excellent introduction to birdshot uveitis and also what is happening to your immune system when birdshot starts to develop. Alastair Denniston’s five-minute talk explains what a ‘Birdshot POEM’ is (Patient Outcomes Experience Measures): a quick snapshot survey about how the patient currently is feeling about their vision.

These five-minute and 10-minute talks explain this complex subject in a way that is easy to understand. The videos may be helpful to show your friends and family if they are interested in finding out more about what your birdshot diagnosis means for you.

Session 1: Introduction to Birdshot and the immune System and the Birdshot POEM

More about Laura Steeples MBChB(Hons), FRCOphth

Laura is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH). She graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2006 and completed specialist training in the North Western deanery followed by two years of sub-speciality training in uveitis at MREH and Bristol Eye Hospital. Laura was appointed as a Consultant in adult and paediatric uveitis in 2016 and is an honorary lecturer at the University of Manchester. Laura is involved in uveitis research and has been an investigator in several national and international clinical trials. Laura regularly presents at international and national meetings and publishes in peer-reviewed journals. She is an active member of several networks including the Uveitis National Clinical Study Group, Paediatric Ocular Inflammation Group, European Society of Retina Specialists and the Birdshot Uveitis Society. She also contributes to patient safety work for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

More about Richard Lee BMedSci, BMBS(Nott), MRCS(Eng), MRCOphth, PhD

Richard is a Consultant Ophthalmologist specialising in uveitis. He has clinics in both Moorfields and Bristol Eye Hospitals. However, he is also an immunologist working to understand how the immune system and the eye interact in the context of diseases such as birdshot. To do this, he supervises and works with teams of clinicians and scientists in the UK (principally at UCL, Bristol and Birmingham) and in the US at the National Eye Institute in Washington DC. His official job title is lead for experimental medicine for inflammatory eye diseases at the UK’s Biomedical Research Centre for ophthalmology, funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and based at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

More about Professor Alastair Denniston, MA, MBBChir, MRCP, FRCOphth, PhD

Alastair is Consultant Ophthalmologist (Uveitis and Medical Retina) at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Reader at the University of Birmingham, UK. Alongside Prof Philip Murray, he leads the Birmingham Regional Birdshot Uveitis Clinic which is utilising novel means of imaging to try to improve detection of active disease. He also leads on the development of the National Birdshot Biobank and the Birdshot Registry (database) with Charlotte Radovanovic, Birdshot database project manager. He was awarded an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship in 2006, and completed his PhD in Ocular Immunity in 2009. He regularly publishes research papers in scientific journals and is active in research related to birdshot, with a particular emphasis on improving our ability to monitor the activity of birdshot and other forms of uveitis. To further this work, he established the EQUATOR consortium (www.equator.vision) in 2013 with Mr Pearse Keane. Alastair is keen to promote public awareness and patient engagement with ophthalmic research and has been actively involved with the Medical Research Council (MRC) Max Perutz Science Writing Prize and the British Science Festival.

Next Session(2)

Birdshot Day 2018, SESSION 2

Posted on by
Reply

Interviews with Jennifer Thorne and Marina Mesquida

BUS was fortunate to have Professor Andrew Dick to undertake these interviews.

We were delighted and honoured to welcome Professor Jennifer Thorne to the 2018 Birdshot Day.  She and several of her birdshot patients had made the journey to the UK from Baltimore in the USA specially to take part. Professor Dick asks Jennifer Thorne about her work:  what led her to specialising in birdshot uveitis and other inflammatory eye diseases.

https://vimeo.com/327434780 Jennifer Thorne – Interview by Andrew Dick

Dr Marina Mesquida, a former research student of Professor Andrew Dick, travelled from Switzerland to attend the Birdshot Day. Here she is being quizzed by Andrew Dick about her move from the world of birdshot research in a hospital setting to a very different environment in one of the larger pharmaceutical companies based in Switzerland

https://vimeo.com/331974484  Marina Mesquida –  Interview by Andrew Dick

Brief notes on the participants:

Professor Andrew Dick BSc(Hons), MBBS, MD, FRCP(Ed), FRCS(Ed & Lond), FRCOphth, FMedSci, FRSB, FARVOwho is Duke Elder Chair and Director of University College London, Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Brain Sciences. He is Head and Chair of Ophthalmology, University of Bristol, and the lead clinician for the Regional Ocular Inflammatory Service, South West England. He also serves on Faculty and is Theme Lead for Inflammation and Immunotherapeutics, Biomedical Research Centre – Ophthalmology, Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL.


Professor Jennifer E Thorne, MD, PhD is Chief, Division of Ocular Immunology and Uveitis Cross Family Professor of Ophthalmology and Epidemiology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, US. She is a board-certified ophthalmologist and an expert in the evaluation and management of patients with uveitis and other related immune-mediated disorders. Dr Thorne participates in numerous research projects on the clinical and treatment outcomes of uveitis, including white spot syndromes such as birdshot chorioretinitis and paediatric uveitis. She is national protocol chair of the MUST-sponsored POINT study on uveitic macular oedema; principal investigator of a study in the effectiveness of the dexamethasone implant in the treatment of uveitis. Her research, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other agencies, is focused on understanding which treatments for uveitis offer the best balance of effectiveness and safety to preserve patients’ vision and quality of life in a cost-effective manner.

Marina Mesquida MD MSc PhD is an ophthalmologist clinician scientist. She obtained her degree in medicine and surgery at the University of Lleida, Spain, then completed her residency in ophthalmology at the Hospital Clinic Barcelona, where she graduated with numerous research awards. After undertaking a Master’s degree (MSc) in autoimmune diseases, she studied for a PhD in ocular immunology and inflammation at the University of Barcelona, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Bristol, UK. She served as a consultant ophthalmologist specialising in medical retina and uveitis at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona for 10 years, where she was also appointed head of the Ophthalmology Clinical Research Unit at the Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica.Marina has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and 20 book chapters, with her major scientific interests being the role of interleukin 6 in the pathogenesis of macular oedema and immunological dysregulation in retinal diseases. In 2017 she received the Early Career Clinician Scientist Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Foundation. She currently serves as Translational Medicine Leader in Ophthalmology as part of the Roche Pharma Research and Early Development team in Basel, Switzerland, where she develops new treatments for retinal diseases, a job which combines her enthusiasm and passion for science with a strong commitment to patients.

Next Session (3)

Birdshot Day 2018, SESSION 3

Posted on by
Reply

Professor Russell Foster CBE, FRS, FMedSci

Sleep and the lack of sleep is something that that birdshotters tend to suffer from, so we were delighted and honoured to be able to get the world-renowned professor of sleep and circadian rhythms to be our guest speaker. Below we present his fascinating talk: ‘The eye and regulation of biological time’ which is followed by a series of very interesting questions from the audience in a separate film clip.

More about Russell Foster

Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford. Russell’s research interests span the neurosciences, but with a focus on the regulation and generation of sleep and circadian rhythms, and what happens when these systems go wrong across multiple areas of health. He has published over 240 peer- reviewed scientific papers and four popular science books on sleep and circadian rhythms. For his discoveries, he has received multiple prizes and honours, not least election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society in 2008 and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2013. In 2015, Russell was appointed as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to science and awarded a DSc from the University of Bristol.

Next session (4)

Birdshot Day 2018, SESSION 4

Posted on by
Reply

Living with sight loss is something that every birdshotter worries about. For most of us, our loss of vision is quite gradual. Without treatment, we are liable to become severely sight impaired eventually. With better treatments becoming available, this is fortunately less likely to happen.

Julian Jackson – “Living with Sight loss”

Here Julian Jackson tells us what it is like to live with sight loss. He suffered from retinitis pigmentosa and in his 40’s lost his sight completely. http://visionbridge.org.uk

Below, Preeti Singla, a low vision specialists, tells about how to maximise our vision through the use of apps and equipment that do not have to cost a fortune. A copy of her apps and gadgets handout, is found here: https://birdshot.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Maximising-your-visual-potential-Handout-2.pdf

Preeti Singla – “Maximising your visual potential

More information about Julian Jackson

After a long career in management consultancy and organising events in emerging markets, followed by five years as Director of Development and then Senior Adviser to a leading eye research charity, Julian launched the social enterprise ‘VisionBridge’ in June 2016, supported by a growing nationwide group of academic researchers, clinician scientists, clinicians and patient advocates. He is building on the work he started in 2014 to promote eye health, increase the awareness and understanding of sight loss and introduce the extraordinary world of eye research to the public, eye health professionals, patients and the wider visually-impaired community across the UK.

Julian lost his sight in 2010 to a retinal inherited disease and therefore has a personal as well as a professional interest in the daily battles being waged in hospitals and universities across the UK to prevent sight loss, treat eye disease, restore sight and improve the quality of life for patients through enhanced rehabilitation.

More information about Preeti Singla MSc MCOptom DipTp (IP) Prof Cert Glauc

Preeti is a Specialist Optometrist with over 15 years’ experience in profession, spanning NHS hospitals, community optometry and as the clinical supervisor for the undergraduate optometry degree at City University, London. She started her career in primary care (‘high street’ or community practice) but quickly realised that her passion lay in secondary healthcare and the management of eye conditions, rather than in screening and the commercial side of optometry. She worked for a number of years across both sectors and then in 2010 made the switch to working in the hospital service full-time. She has worked for The Royal London Hospital Whitechapel, Moorfields Eye Hospital and most recently for Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust, covering Stoke Mandeville, High Wycombe and Amersham Hospitals. Her work in the hospital sector has covered a broad range of experience in both core optometry clinics and also in an extended role, working alongside ophthalmologists in paediatrics, glaucoma and retina specialities. She has a keen interest in low vision rehabilitation and too on the role of Low Vision Lead at the Royal London, working closely with low vision aid suppliers. Preeti has also written a number of articles the most recent being a series of three articles on low vision.

Next session (5)

Birdshot Day 2018, SESSION 5

Posted on by
Reply

Birdshot Uveitis Society and Fight for Sight have co-funded a number of small grants for birdshot research. Here are video updates from the recipients of five of these projects. They were all asked to make sure that their talk was no longer than 10 minutes, with an additional five minutes for questions. Further project descriptions can be found at the following link. https://birdshot.org.uk/funded-birdshot-uveitis-research-projects/

Colin Chu -‘Investigating Birdshot using human induced pluripotent stem cell modelling’

https://vimeo.com/327024591

Alastair Denniston – ‘Update of the Birdshot database and biobank’

https://vimeo.com/327016934

Omar Mahroo – ‘Update on the RETeval device’

https://vimeo.com/327043191

Philip Murray – ‘Health Utility’

https://vimeo.com/327068379

Graham Wallace – ‘Update on iron overload’

https://vimeo.com/327028545

Mark Westcott – ‘BOSU Study – How many new cases of birdshot each year?’

https://vimeo.com/327039177

Further brief details about the speakers

Colin Chu PhD, FRCOphth, MA, BM, BCh, is a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Academic Clinical Lecturer at the University of Bristol and Bristol Eye Hospital, working with Professor Andrew Dick on gene therapy and ocular inflammation (uveitis). During ophthalmology specialist training he was awarded a Medical Research Council (MRC) and Fight for Sight Clinical Research Training Fellowship, gaining his PhD with Professor Robin Ali at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. He has previously undertaken research at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in Oxford and at the Save Sight Institute in Sydney.

Professor Alastair Denniston, MA, MBBChir, MRCP, FRCOphth, PhD, is Consultant Ophthalmologist (Uveitis and Medical Retina) at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Honorary Reader at the University of Birmingham, UK. Alongside Prof Philip Murray, he leads the Birmingham Regional Birdshot Uveitis Clinic which is utilising novel means of imaging to try to improve detection of active disease. He also leads on the development of the National Birdshot Biobank and the Birdshot Registry (database) with Charlotte Radovanovic, Birdshot database project manager. He was awarded an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellowship in 2006, and completed his PhD in Ocular Immunity in 2009. He regularly publishes research papers in scientific journals and is active in research related to birdshot, with a particular emphasis on improving our ability to monitor the activity of birdshot and other forms of uveitis. To further this work, he established the EQUATOR consortium (www.equator.vision) in 2013 with Mr Pearse Keane. Alastair is keen to promote public awareness and patient engagement with ophthalmic research and has been actively involved with the Medical Research Council (MRC) Max Perutz Science Writing Prize and the British Science Festival.

Omar Mahroo MA, MBBChir, PhD, FRCOphth, FHEA, is a consultant ophthalmologist with subspecialty expertise in retinal disease, managing patients at Moorfields Eye Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital. He completed a medical degree and PhD at the University of Cambridge, and post-doctoral research at Cambridge and the Australian National University. He then commenced clinical house officer jobs in Cambridge, followed by ophthalmology training in London. His main research interest is understanding retinal function through electrophysiology. He has received funding from Fight for Sight, the Birdshot Uveitis Society, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Thomas Pocklington Trust. He was recently awarded a £1.1m Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship to investigate disease mechanisms in patients with inherited retinal conditions and also the effects of common genetic variants on retinal function in healthy individuals, including variants related to myopia. His research is based at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and at King’s College, London where he is Honorary Senior Lecturer. He has been trialling the use of a quick-to-use hand-held electrophysiology device that could help manage patients in clinic.

Professor Philip I Murray MBBS, DO(RCS), PhD, FRCP, FRCS, FRCOphth, undertook most of his clinical ophthalmology training at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London and his basic science laboratory training at the Institute of Ophthalmology, London and the Department of Ophthalmo- Immunology, Amsterdam. He is Professor of Ophthalmology, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham. His laboratory research is focussed on understanding:
• why intraocular tolerance fails in uveitis
• what immune mechanisms initiate and drive the inflammatory response
• what can one do about it?

He is Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and runs two dedicated regional and supra-regional uveitis clinics per week. He enjoys the challenging and frustrating nature of uveitis but also finds it immensely rewarding. He is involved in clinical trials on novel therapies for uveitis and until recently he had a special interest in cataract surgery on the uveitic eye. He is part of the Birmingham National Centre of Excellence for Behçet’s syndrome. From 2004-2016 he was Secretary of the International Uveitis Study Group. He sits on numerous national committees, is section editor for three journals, an examiner for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth), external examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and past external examiner, Optometry BSc (Hons), Aston University.

Graham Wallace, BSc, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Immunity and Infection, Birmingham University. He has published over 75 research papers in scientific journals as well as reviews in the fields of ocular immunology, Behҫet’s syndrome and immunogenetics. He has received grants from Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, Fight for Sight, and the Wellcome Trust. He is an enthusiastic communicator on the theme of immune responses in the eye and the effects of gene polymorphisms on ocular diseases. Graham is on the medical panel of the Behҫet’s Syndrome Society and speaks at meetings of patient groups on a regular basis.

Mark Westcott MD, FRCOphth, CCST, is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, where he specialises in uveitis, and also at St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London Hospitals. After residency training in London he spent a Fellowship year in glaucoma at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles. Thereafter he returned to Moorfields Eye Hospital to undertake a Specialist Fellowship in medical retina and inflammatory eye disease.

Mark has co-authored over 40 scientific papers and regularly lectures both nationally and internationally. He is an honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Ophthalmology, UCL. His research interests include infectious uveitis, birdshot disease and visual dysfunction in glaucoma.

Next session (6)

Birdshot Day 2018, SESSION 6

Posted on by
Reply

‘Birdshot Question Time’ – panel of patient and professional experts, chaired by Philip Murray.

An hour-long questioning and answer session at the end of the day where a panel of experts, both health professionals and patients, answered questions from the floor as well as questions that had been sent in advance.

https://vimeo.com/327433269  

Also, one of the consultants gave us written answers to the questions that were asked in our international birdshot Facebook group. You will find a copy of these written answers here: https://birdshot.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Questions-for-the-Birdshot-Day-final-and-complete.pdf

Professor Philip I Murray MBBS, DO(RCS), PhD, FRCP, FRCS, FRCOphth

Phil is Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre (BMEC), Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust and runs two dedicated regional and supra-regional uveitis clinics per week. He enjoys the challenging and frustrating nature of uveitis but also finds it immensely rewarding. He is involved in clinical trials on novel therapies for uveitis and until recently he had a special interest in cataract surgery on the uveitic eye. He is part of the Birmingham National Centre of Excellence for Behçet’s syndrome. From 2004-2016 he was Secretary of the International Uveitis Study Group. He sits on numerous national committees, is section editor for three journals, an examiner for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth), external examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and past external examiner, Optometry BSc (Hons), Aston University.

He has published over 180 peer-reviewed papers, contributed numerous book chapters and authored four textbooks, including the highly successful ‘Oxford Handbook of Ophthalmology’. He has a keen interest in undergraduate ophthalmology teaching (previously national lead for the RCOphth), is an adviser to three national uveitis patient groups, helped set up a successful local patient involvement group in uveitis and is an advocate of the ‘patient voice’.

He is a fervent supporter of the English Championship side Brentford FC, and plays baritone sax in ‘Out of the Blue Big Band’ and ‘The Soul Providers’ 

Final information for Birdshot day No 4

Posted on by
4
This is just a short reminder to you all about our forthcoming Birdshot Day if you are registered to attend. A lot of work has gone into the planning and preparation and we are happy to tell you that everything is well under way.

This year, we are delighted to be welcoming many regular birdshotters as well as a good proportion of new people to our 4th Birdshot Day.  You will be amazed to know that we have people travelling from as far away as the US, New Zealand, Malta, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland Holland and Germany, as well as from the far corners of the United Kingdom – a truly international occasion.

On the day, the doors will be open from about 9.15am with the first talk starting at 10.00. We will have Birdshot Uveitis Society members, wearing their special T-shirts, downstairs in the hotel lobby area to help guide you up to the conference area on the first floor.

There will be filming taking place in the auditorium sessions, so we will need to ask you to sign a filming consent form (see below).

We always receive a great deal of help on Birdshot Days from the Patient and Public Involvement Team at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre. This year, we are very pleased to announce that they will be running an informal lunchtime discussion, chaired by Mr Richard Lee (NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre). So, if you want to know more about how research is conducted and why it takes so long, or if you have questions about birdshot that you would like to raise in a group discussion, this will be another forum in which you can take part. More information about it can be found here.

To help you get ready, please find the following documents for Birdshot Day which you may like to download and read.

  1. Programme for the day
  2. Biographies of the speakers
  3. Photos of the speakers
  4. How to get to the Grange City Hotel
  5. Filming consent 2018
  6. List of exhibitors 2018

Raffle and BUS merchandise
As usual, there will be a raffle to help raise funds for BUS. Prizes include a Christmas hamper, Johnnie Walker whisky, framed photographs by Robert Connor McPeake,  a Gift basket from the US, goodies from Fortnum and Masons, and a  landscape textile wall hanging.There will also be special Birdshot Day T-shirts, saffron recipe mugs, caps, etc, for sale.

We will also have printed copies of the recently-published Birdshot Survival Guide available.

Please bring cash with you for your purchases as we don’t have the facility to take payments by card.

Transport
We have checked for train cancellations over the weekend of the conference. It seems that the District Line (London Underground) is going to be operating a good service, but depending on where you are travelling from, there will be a few line closures, so it is worth checking this in advance at http://content.tfl.gov.uk/track-closures.pdfl

And finally…
if for any reason you find you won’t be able to attend after all, please do let us know.  We will be finalising numbers in the first week of November, and we like to gauge this as accurately as possible to avoid waste.

The Birdshot Team are all looking forward to meeting you. It is not long to go now!

Annie

for Team Birdshot
info@birdshot.org.uk

Folic acid Q &A – why take it with methotrexate?

Posted on by
Reply
We have just published a short Q&A factsheet about folic acid and methotrexate because this is something that we often get asked about. This is the first in what we plan to be a series of short Q&A factsheets.

There is a link to the folic acid factsheet below. It can also be found in the factsheet section of our website.

https://birdshot.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Folic-QA-Factsheet-Mar-2018.doc

 

4th Birdshot day, 17th November 2018

Posted on by
6
We are delighted to announce details of the 4th BUS Birdshot Uveitis Day on Saturday 17th November 2018. It will be held at the Grange City Hotel, 8-14 Coopers Row, London EC3N 2BQ, close to Tower Hill Underground station and Fenchurch Street mainline rail station.  This educational day is intended for people with birdshot uveitis, their family members, health professionals who treat people with birdshot, those who research birdshot, or for anybody who wants to learn more about the condition.

This year we have a really exciting programme planned, and as well as our fabulous UK team of birdshot uveitis expert speakers we are also honoured to welcome Professor Jennifer Thorne,  Cross Family Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Baltimore,  where she is also chief of the Division of Ocular Immunology,  and Dr Marina Mesquida who is an ophthalmologist clinician scientist, now working for Roche Pharma research and early development as Translational Medicine Leader in Ophthalmology.  We are also extremely fortunate to have Professor Russell Foster, who is a professor of circadian neuroscience, the Director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and the Head of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Oxford University, for our keynote talk about sleep and how problems with sleeping (or rather lack of it) affect our health.

A two-course buffet lunch, tea and coffee will be provided. The day will close at 5.00pm but we are also planning to organise an informal social get-together afterwards in a nearby pub or bar, to allow even more time for chatting. Details will be announced nearer the day.

Below is the outline programme for the day:

BIRDSHOT DAY NO 4 PROGRAMME

Saturday 17th November 2018 from 10.00am – 5.00pm with registration and coffee from 9.15am.

SESSION 1 Chaired by Professor Miles Stanford

Birdshot ABC: to include information about birdshot uveitis, the immune system and getting the most out of your eye appointment.  Speakers to include: Mr Richard Lee (Bristol and Moorfields), Miss Laura Steeples (Manchester) and Mr Greg Heath (York).

SESSION 2 Chaired by Professor Alastair Denniston

Overview on the world of birdshot research, with Professor Alastair Denniston and Professor Andrew Dick interviewing Professor Jennifer Thorne and Dr Marina Mesquida.

SESSION 3 Chaired by Professor Andrew Dick

Sleep and how it affects your health and immune system: Professor Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Oxford University.

SESSION 4 Introduced by Annie Folkard

Living with sight loss: practical tips and apps that may help increase independence if you have started to lose vision. Speakers: Julian Jackson, Chen Yogev from Orcam and Preeti Singla, an expert low vision optometrist.

SESSION 5 Chaired by Professor Alastair Denniston

BUS/Fight for Sight funded research: short update on what we have discovered so far. Speakers include: Dr Graham Wallace, Dr Omar Mahroo, Mr Mark Westcott, Dr Colin Chu and Professor Philip Murray.

SESSION 6 Chaired by Professor Philip Murray

Birdshot – treatment and trials update. Have your say with a professionals and patients panel. Speakers to include: Professor Andrew Dick, Professor Jennifer Thorne and Dr Marina Mesquida, Professor Miles Stanford.

QUESTION TIME Chaired by Professor Andrew Dick. The birdshot panel answers your questions.

AFTER-EVENT SOCIAL We are going to have a social after the main event in a local bar or pub. Please let us know if you think you might like to attend this and we will send you more information about it later.  We are just trying to judge numbers at the moment.

As well as the talks, on the day you will be able to network and socialise with our ‘Birdshot Community’ made up of professionals, people with birdshot and family members.  You will be able to:

  • Learn more about birdshot and the immune system
  • Learn how to get the most from your eye clinic appointment
  • Learn more about the impact of sleep on your immune system and health
  • Meet experts in the field of birdshot and vision impairment
  • Meet other patients with a birdshot diagnosis
  • Ask questions about birdshot
  • Find out about new treatments and research

As before, we will have a range of exhibitors attending.  There will also be interactive sessions in the breaks where you can learn more about the immune system and also talk to people involved in birdshot research.

Please register on line to reserve your place, or print off the Birdshot Day Registration Form 2018 and send it to BUS, PO Box 64996, London SW20 2BL, or return it by email to info @ birdshot.org.uk.

This event is being organised by BUS and members of the National Birdshot Research Network.  We are particularly grateful to Professor Andrew Dick, Professor Alastair Denniston and Karen Bonstein for their help with developing the programme.  We are extremely fortunate to have the continued support of a dedicated group of clinicians and researchers who form the heart of the National Birdshot Research Network.

BUS very much looks forwards to meeting you all on Saturday 17th November 2018.

Annie

for Team Birdshot

Email: info @ birdshot. org.uk

Book your places now!

As before, the conference, including lunch, is free, but we do require a £20 refundable registration deposit (plus £1 non-refundable administration fee to pay for postage and Paypal fees). Your registration fee can be returned when you attend the Day, but if you choose to donate your registration fee to help BUS develop the next Birdshot Day, we very warmly welcome this. You can pay your registration fee by using the button below (debit and credit card & PayPal), or by sending a cheque by post to BUS, PO Box 64996, London SW20 2BL.


Please select your ticket option



If you are claiming benefits or on a pension, we will waive the deposit as we do not want to prevent people attending due to financial constraints. Please select this option on the dropdown PayPal button.

Accommodation

If you want overnight accommodation, the Grange City Hotel has offered us a concessionary rate.  Please note that to obtain the special rate, your hotel booking must be made at least one month in advance of the event, as nearer to the date prices will unfortunately go up.     We have been offered a special rate including English breakfast and complimentary upgrade to executive room where available for:

  • Friday 16th November – £119 + vat
  • Saturday 17th November – £139 + vat

The reference people should quote when booking via phone (020 7863 3700) or email city.reservations@grangehotels.com  is CCT1711090.