Skip to main content

Main menu

  • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Our Team
    • Vision, Mission and Values
    • Health and Economic Impact
    • Research Impact Video
    • Strategic Plan
  • Our Research
    • Research Focus
      • Brain Health
      • Cancer
      • Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence
      • Heart Health
      • Healthy Aging and Mobility
      • Immune System
      • Injury and Rehabilitation
      • Lung Health
      • Mental Health and Substance Use
    • Research Centres and Programs
      • BC Centre on Substance Use
      • Centre for Aging SMART
      • Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation
      • Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation
      • Centre for Lung Health
      • Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
      • Immunity and Infection Research Centre
      • International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries
      • M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences
      • Ovarian Cancer Research Centre
      • Community Research Program
      • Emergency Medicine Research Program
      • Hematology Research Program
      • Skin Research Program
      • Other Research Focus Areas
    • News and Stories
    • Researcher Directory
    • Events and Workshops
  • Research Services
    • New to VCHRI
      • Working at VCHRI
      • Regulations and Training
      • Membership with VCHRI
      • Learning and Development
    • Starting Your Project
      • Research Facilitation
      • Awards and Funding
      • Grant Management
      • Operational Approval
      • CST Cerner
    • Developing Your Project
      • Clinical Trials Administration
      • Clinical Research Unit
      • Research Privacy
      • Financial Policies and Procedures
    • Additional Support
      • Indigenous Health Research Unit
      • VCH-VCHRI AI Hub
      • Communications and Media Relations
      • Study Recruitment Support
      • Innovation and Industry Partnership
    • Internal Awards
    • Clinical Research
    • Indigenous Research
  • Participate in Research
    • Reasons to Participate
    • Participant Stories
    • Find a Study
    • Recruitment Support

User menu

  • Log in

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Our Research
  3. News and Stories
  4. CHROMA study offers investigational drug for dry AMD-related vision loss

CHROMA study offers investigational drug for dry AMD-related vision loss

Participate in Research Jul 13, 2016 3 minutes

“I say yes to participating in research because people like me are desperate not to lose their vision.”

— Barbara McWilliams, Vancouver

More than 10 years ago, 77-year-old Vancouver resident Barbara McWilliams visited an optometrist thinking that she needed a stronger prescription for her glasses. Instead, she learned that she had dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that had already robbed her older brother of most of his vision. AMD damages the cells in the eye’s macula, which is the centre portion of the retina that allows for seeing objects clearly. There are approximately 1.4 million Canadians living with AMD and it is the leading cause of vision loss in Canada.1

“I felt like it was a terrible diagnosis,” says McWilliams, a former nurse. 

“Nobody wants to lose their vision,” says McWilliams.

McWilliams, who keeps up on medical research, asked her ophthalmologist about AMD clinical trials or studies happening locally. That is how she came to participate in the CHROMA study, which is testing the efficacy and safety of a new medication.

Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute scientist and CHROMA co-investigator Dr. Eduardo Navajas explains how geographic atrophy (GA), an advanced form of dry age related macular degeneration, can cause loss of vision.

“Patients with dry AMD eventually start to lose a layer of the retina called the retinal pigment epithelium – this is the hallmark of GA,” explains Dr. Navajas, who is a vitreoretinal surgeon and clinical assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia.

“GA progresses over time, and when it involves the centre of the macula—the fovea—vision decreases significantly. Currently, there is no treatment for GA,” explains Dr. Navajas.

Patients participating in CHROMA receive either a placebo or an injection of the medication into their affected eye. The drug aims to decrease the rate of progression of GA.

“People like us, who are losing our vision, are desperate for something that allows us to keep our sight from deteriorating or maybe, one day in the future, something that can even give us back our sight,” says McWilliams.

“The research is being conducted at the Eye Care Centre at Vancouver General Hospital and is part of global clinical trials as the drug has not yet been approved,” says Dr. Navajas. 

Because the study is double-blind, neither McWilliams nor the researchers know whether she is receiving the experimental medication or a placebo, but that hasn’t decreased her enthusiasm for participating.

“All I hope is for my AMD to be maintained and not get worse,” she shares. “I saw my ophthalmologist recently and, luckily, he said that it’s not getting worse.”

“I’m hoping I can get my brother into a different clinical trial or study one day that can help get his vision back,” she shares. 

 

1 CNIB - Fast Facts about Vision Loss

 

THIS IS ONE PATIENT’S STORY OF PARTICIPATING IN A CLINICAL TRIAL. YOUR EXPERIENCE MAY DIFFER. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLINICAL TRIALS BEFORE PARTICIPATING.

Researchers

Eduardo Navajas

Related Articles

Behind the lab doors: Eye Care Centre

Novel AI model explains retinal sex difference

Transformative treatment for wet, age-related macular degeneration

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Email

Get the latest research headlines in your inbox

Subscribe

Recent News and Stories

Type
Announcement

Celebrating the life and distinguished career of Dr. Marcel Dvorak

May 14, 2025
Type
Stories

More equitable representation needed in Parkinson’s research

May 9, 2025 parkinsons, patient engagement, women
Type
Stories

Gamified stroke recovery improves arm function

May 8, 2025 stroke, rehabilitation
See more news

Get updates!

Join our newsletter mailing list to stay up to date on features and releases.

Subscribe

Quick Links

  • News and Stories
  • Careers
  • Events
  • Media Enquiries

Follow Us

  • LinkedIn
  • X
  • YouTube

© 2025 VCHRI. All rights reserved.

  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy