Dr. Marianne Coleman, research orthoptist, and Susie Aldiss, health psychologist and children’s cancer researcher, have secured a £225 patient and public involvement grant from the Research Design Service South-East. Marianne and Susie will use the money for involvement work with up to 3 families of children with retinoblastoma, who have undertaken patching treatment for ‘lazy eye’ (amblyopia).
Retinoblastoma is the most common eye cancer in children – treatment usually involves removing the affected eye, but thanks to recent medical advances, more eyes are being saved. This leads to secondary amblyopia and the need for patching to treat this.
This involvement work will inform the rationale and design for research exploring the information and support needs of families with retinoblastoma during patching treatment. Marianne was the winner of the inaugural BIOS Bright Ideas contest with her research idea to explore this area, and with Susie is preparing a proposal for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust funding competition in the spring.
