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Clare Futter has a lifelong interest in membrane traffic, which began during her postdoctoral research with Colin Hopkins, where she learned the mechanisms that deliver proteins and lipids to the correct destinations within a cell, underpinning cellular function. In Colin's lab, she appreciated the power of electron microscopy, which continues to play a significant role in her research. In 2000, she was fortunate enough to obtain a lectureship at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. Her ocular experience led her to discover that the eye possesses specialized membrane traffic processes, particularly the remarkable daily degradation of photoreceptor outer segments by retinal pigment epithelium. This research sheds light on how failures in membrane traffic can lead to the build-up of debris in the back of the eye and contribute to retinal degenerative diseases. Futter investigates molecular mechanisms underlying the pigmentation that protects the retina from ultraviolet radiation. An exciting time for her as an ocular cell biologist, she leverages new technologies to image membrane traffic processes in real-time with high-resolution 3D electron microscopy. She leads the Development, Ageing and Disease theme at the Institute of Ophthalmology, focusing on the challenge of integrating new model systems such as patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells and retinal organoids with proteomic, transcriptomic, lipidomic, and metabolomic approaches, as well as functional imaging, to generate new insights into the mechanisms of ageing and ocular disease through the power of artificial intelligence.