Transforming eye research with Professor Karl Matter
20 May 2025
Professor Karl Matter, professor of cell biology at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology shares about his career and his fascinating research. Keep reading to find out more.
Professor Karl Matter moved to UCL from Geneva in 2001, first as a reader of experimental ophthalmology and now as a professor of cell biology at the Institute of Ophthalmology.
His background includes achieving a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Basel, Switzerland, in 1989.
After completing his postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University, USA, he returned to Switzerland where he started an independent research programme at the University of Geneva, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Professor Matter only began working in eye-related research when he joined UCL.
He was recruited for his expertise in tight junctions, a structure that keeps cells together and helps form barriers.
In diabetes, tight junctions become ‘leaky’ causing fluid to build up in the macula of the eye, also known as diabetic oedema.
The main focus of research and our support
Professor Matter’s research focuses on molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying eye diseases and conditions, such as glaucoma, diabetes, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
What is glaucoma?
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Glaucoma is an eye condition where damage to the optic nerve causes sight loss. It is usually caused by the pressure inside your eye rising too high.
Your eye is full of fluid, which helps it to keep its shape and function properly. If too much fluid builds up inside the eye, the pressure rises and squeezes the optic nerve at the back of the eye.
This can cause damage to your optic nerve - a bundle of over a million nerve fibres that carry signals between your eye and your brain.
Pressure might build up in the eye when:
- fluid is stopped from draining away
- extra fluid is produced after an eye injury or infection - this is called ‘secondary glaucoma’
- there is an abnormality in the shape of the eye in children - this is called‘congenital glaucoma’
Glaucoma tends to develop slowly over many years. As there is currently no cure for glaucoma, treatment focuses on early diagnosis, careful monitoring and regular treatment to help prevent further sight loss.
9 in 10 people diagnosed with glaucoma today who get the treatment they need will retain useful sight for the rest of their lives
It is not currently possible to repair the optic nerve once it has been damaged, so any vision lost to glaucoma cannot be recovered. If left untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness.
There are usually no symptoms of a rising pressure in the eye until sight loss occurs, so regular eye tests are the best way to help spot the condition early.
Professor Matter is involved with six projects that are directly relevant to Moorfields patients.
Each of the projects have received funding from Moorfields Eye Charity (MEC) including a gene therapy approach for dry AMD, which has been patented, and projects involving research into glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
What is diabetic retinopathy?
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Diabetic retinopathy is a common eye condition in people with diabetes, particularly those with poor diabetic control.
4.9 million people in the UK have diabetes
1,700 people have their sight seriously affected by diabetes every year
It is caused by high blood sugar levels which, over long periods of time, damage the blood vessels in the retina - the tissue lining at the back of the eye that detects light and allows us to see.
It can cause blindness if left undiagnosed and untreated.
Anyone with type 1 diabetes or type 2 diabetes is potentially at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy.
You will not usually notice diabetic retinopathy in the early stages, as it does not tend to have any obvious symptoms until it’s more advanced.
MEC has funded two PhD studentships in Professor Matter’s team.
This includes a project investigating the molecular changes that lead to degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) (a layer of cells that support the functioning and survival of photoreceptors in the eye) in retinal diseases like age-related macular degeneration.
The other, a project investigating the role of a specific protein called Dbl3 that is involved in maintaining the RPE. The findings from this research may be a starting point for developing new therapies for retinal conditions that cannot be effectively treated today, such as dry AMD.
What is age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a condition that causes damage to the light-sensitive layer of cells at the back of your eye, causing sight loss.
This layer of cells is called the retina. The macular is a small part of your retina that is critical for central vision, so AMD mainly causes loss of central vision.
AMD affects people over the age of 50. It is the most common form of macular degeneration.
There are two types of AMD:
- ‘Dry’ AMD, which is caused by a build-up of waste material under the macula.
- ‘Wet’ AMD, which is caused by abnormal blood vessels growing underneath the retina and leaking fluids.
People with AMD often experience sight loss or blurring in their central vision. This means they struggle to do everyday tasks like reading a clock or recognising people’s faces.
75% Around three quarters of AMD cases are‘dry’, which doesn’t usually cause severe sight loss
600,000 AMD affects over 600,000 people in the UK
Through our Springboard Award grant scheme, MEC has supported the initiation of a project led by Professor Matter that looks at how gene variants play a role in the development and progression of glaucoma.
This research has the potential to enable the development of innovative care strategies for glaucoma in the future.
Professor Matter also discovered a mechanism in cells which responds to stress and can cause problems if activated chronically.
He is now trying to discover why, and whether deactivating that stress mechanism, might enable him to develop simple drops to tackle inflammatory retinal diseases and possibly even diabetic retinopathy.
Read about Prof Karl Matter’s research
Keeping the back of the eye healthy and clear of debris
Tackling the ‘trial-and-error’ approach to treating glaucoma
Marvellous mechanism supports retinal blood vessels
Establishing a career in ophthalmology
Professor Matter was looking for a job and was advised to look at UCL.
I came to ophthalmology by opportunity. I thought we could achieve something here, so we came.
Professor Matter
Professor Matter previously worked with Professor Maria Balda, professor of cell biology, in Geneva.
At UCL, they continued their collaboration and began work focusing on eye diseases related to cell biology – their expertise.
Professor Matter met Professor Anthony Khawaja, associate professor at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Moorfields, who shared details of his own glaucoma project.
He [Professor Khawaja] showed me all the lists of genes linked to glaucoma, which was like a playground for a cell biologist. So, we started working with him, aiming to assemble the different genes into disease processes that lead to glaucoma. Such knowledge can then be used to treat patients in a more targeted manner than it is possible today.
Professor Matter
The impact of MEC funding
PhD studentships are over a three-year period.
PhD studentships allow enough time to complete a piece of research.
Professor Matter
Professor Matter shared that funders like MEC can have a big impact for early-stage projects.
MEC is prepared to consider funding novel and cutting edge research ideas, and as seed funding, the Springboard award can really have a big impact. One such Springboard grant led to our securing additional funding of £500,000.
He uses two Stellaris microscopes. One for a very specialised technique that allows him to monitor the activity of important regulatory processes in living cells.
He is also using a metabolic analyser – the sea horse they’ve had for about three years now which has given them insights they would never have had before into processes guided by genes linked to retinal degeneration and glaucoma.
