# Topics and Trends in Most Cited Retinal Development and Disorders Papers, Class of 2026

*Canonical URL: https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/retinal-development-and-disorders/2026*

## What topics and trends defined most-cited Retinal Development and Disorders research in the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 is driven by advanced cellular models, particularly retinal organoids, alongside a major translational push toward therapeutics. Anti-VEGF therapy saw a striking 6-fold increase, reflecting rapid clinical advancements, while inherited dystrophies like retinitis pigmentosa heavily dominated the highest-impact papers.

## At a glance

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Field | Retinal Development and Disorders |
| Cohort label | Class of 2026 (2024 publications) |
| Papers analyzed | 3,261 |
| Papers ranked | 20 |
| Top topics in ranked papers | Retinal pigment epithelium, Retinal organoid, retinitis pigmentosa |
| Publication window | Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2024 |
| Eligibility | Research articles; reviews excluded |
| Citation window | 18 months post-publication |
| 18m citation range | 23–118 |
| Data source | OpenAlex · Retrieved September 2026 |
| License | CC BY 4.0 |

## Rankings

| Rank | Title | Authors | Corresponding authors | Affiliation | Journal | 18m citations | DOI |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| 1 | Gene Editing for <i>CEP290</i> -Associated Retinal Degeneration | Eric A Pierce, Tomas S Aleman, Kanishka T Jayasundera, Bright S Ashimatey, Keunpyo Kim, Alia Rashid, Michael C Jaskolka, Rene L Myers, Byron L Lam, Steven T Bailey, Jason I Comander, Andreas K Lauer, Albert M Maguire, Mark E Pennesi | Eric A Pierce | Mass Eye and Ear, United States | New England Journal of Medicine | 118 | 10.1056/nejmoa2309915 |
| 2 | Gene therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration by subretinal delivery of RGX-314: a phase 1/2a dose-escalation study | Peter A Campochiaro, Robert Avery, David M Brown, Jeffrey S Heier, Allen C Ho, Stephen M Huddleston, Glenn J Jaffe, Arshad M Khanani, Stephen Pakola, Dante J Pieramici, Charles C Wykoff, Sherri Van Everen | Peter A. Campochiaro | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States | The Lancet | 58 | 10.1016/s0140-6736(24)00310-6 |
| 3 | Eye-brain connections revealed by multimodal retinal and brain imaging genetics | Bingxin Zhao, Yujue Li, Zirui Fan, Zhenyi Wu, Juan Shu, Xiaochen Yang, Yilin Yang, Xifeng Wang, Bingxuan Li, Xiyao Wang, Carlos Copana, Yue Yang, Jinjie Lin, Yun Li, Jason L Stein, Joan M O'Brien, Tengfei Li, Hongtu Zhu | Bingxin Zhao, Hongtu Zhu | University of Pennsylvania, United States | Nature Communications | 49 | 10.1038/s41467-024-50309-w |
| 4 | A highly reproducible and efficient method for retinal organoid differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells | Jade Harkin, Kiersten H Peña, Cátia Gomes, Melody Hernandez, Sailee S Lavekar, Kaman So, Kelly Lentsch, Elyse M Feder, Sarah Morrow, Kang-Chieh Huang, Kaylee D Tutrow, Ann Morris, Chi Zhang, Jason S Meyer | Jason S. Meyer | Indiana University, United States | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 39 | 10.1073/pnas.2317285121 |
| 5 | Robust reprogramming of glia into neurons by inhibition of Notch signaling and nuclear factor I (NFI) factors in adult mammalian retina | Nguyet Le, Trieu-Duc Vu, Isabella Palazzo, Ritvik Pulya, Yehna Kim, Seth Blackshaw, Thanh Hoang | Seth Blackshaw, Thanh Hoang | Johns Hopkins University, United States | Science Advances | 37 | 10.1126/sciadv.adn2091 |
| 6 | 6PPD, Not 6PPD-Quinone, Induced Serious Zebrafish Eye Damage by Disrupting the Thyroid Signaling Pathway | Jing Chang, Leisen Zhang, Juan Zhao, Zhaoguang Zhang, Zijian Wang, Huili Wang, Bin Wan | Bin Wan | Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China | Environmental Science & Technology | 37 | 10.1021/acs.est.4c11264 |
| 7 | Comprehensive single-cell atlas of the mouse retina | Jin Li, Jongsu Choi, Xuesen Cheng, Justin Ma, Shahil Pema, Joshua R Sanes, Graeme Mardon, Benjamin J Frankfort, Nicholas M Tran, Yumei Li, Rui Chen | Jin Li | Baylor College of Medicine, United States | iScience | 36 | 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109916 |
| 8 | Real-world six-month outcomes in patients switched to faricimab following partial response to anti-VEGF therapy for neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular oedema | Grace A Borchert, Christine A Kiire, Niamh M Stone, Handan Akil, Theodora Gkika, M Dominik Fischer, Kanmin Xue, Jasmina Cehajic-Kapetanovic, Robert E MacLaren, Peter Charbel Issa, Susan M Downes, Samantha R De Silva | Samantha R. De Silva | University of Oxford, United Kingdom | Eye | 36 | 10.1038/s41433-024-03364-y |
| 9 | Integrating genetic regulation and single-cell expression with GWAS prioritizes causal genes and cell types for glaucoma | Andrew R Hamel, Wenjun Yan, John M Rouhana, Aboozar Monovarfeshani, Xinyi Jiang, Puja A Mehta, Jayshree Advani, Yuyang Luo, Qingnan Liang, Skanda Rajasundaram, Arushi Shrivastava, Katherine Duchinski, Sreekar Mantena, Jiali Wang, Tavé van Zyl, Louis R Pasquale, Anand Swaroop, Puya Gharahkhani, Anthony P Khawaja, Stuart MacGregor, International Glaucoma Genetics Consortium (IGGC), Rui Chen, Veronique Vitart, Joshua R Sanes, Janey L Wiggs, Ayellet V Segrè | Ayellet V. Segrè | Harvard University, United States | Nature Communications | 33 | 10.1038/s41467-023-44380-y |
| 10 | RPE melanin and its influence on the progression of AMD | Mary Kaufmann, Zongchao Han | Zongchao Han | University of North Carolina, United States | Ageing Research Reviews | 32 | 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102358 |
| 11 | Retinal detachment | Jonathan B Lin, Raja Narayanan, Elise Philippakis, Yoshihiro Yonekawa, Rajendra S Apte | Rajendra S. Apte | Massachusetts Eye and Ear, United States | Nature Reviews Disease Primers | 28 | 10.1038/s41572-024-00501-5 |
| 12 | Safety and efficacy of ATSN-101 in patients with Leber congenital amaurosis caused by biallelic mutations in GUCY2D: a phase 1/2, multicentre, open-label, unilateral dose escalation study | Paul Yang, Laura P Pardon, Allen C Ho, Andreas K Lauer, Dan Yoon, Shannon E Boye, Sanford L Boye, Alejandro J Roman, Vivian Wu, Alexandra V Garafalo, Alexander Sumaroka, Malgorzata Swider, Iryna Viarbitskaya, Tomas S Aleman, Mark E Pennesi, Christine N Kay, Kenji P Fujita, Artur V Cideciyan | Paul Yang, Artur V. Cideciyan | Oregon Health & Science University, United States | The Lancet | 28 | 10.1016/s0140-6736(24)01447-8 |
| 13 | Senolytic and senomorphic agent procyanidin C1 alleviates structural and functional decline in the aged retina | Yidan Liu, Xiuxing Liu, Xuhao Chen, Zhenlan Yang, Jianqi Chen, Weining Zhu, Yangyang Li, Yuwen Wen, Caibin Deng, Chenyang Gu, Jianjie Lv, Rong Ju, Yehong Zhuo, Wenru Su | Yidan Liu, Xiuxing Liu, Xuhao Chen, Zhenlan Yang, Yehong Zhuo, Wenru Su | Sun Yat-sen University, China | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | 26 | 10.1073/pnas.2311028121 |
| 14 | Disease Activity and Therapeutic Response to Pegcetacoplan for Geographic Atrophy Identified by Deep Learning-Based Analysis of OCT | Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, Julia Mai, Gregor S Reiter, Sophie Riedl, Wolf-Dieter Vogl, Amir Sadeghipour, Alex McKeown, Emma Foos, Lukas Scheibler, Hrvoje Bogunovic | Ursula Schmidt‐Erfurth | Medical University of Vienna, Austria | Ophthalmology | 26 | 10.1016/j.ophtha.2024.08.017 |
| 15 | An adeno-associated virus variant enabling efficient ocular-directed gene delivery across species | Shuang Luo, Hao Jiang, Qingwei Li, Yingfei Qin, Shiping Yang, Jing Li, Lingli Xu, Yan Gou, Yafei Zhang, Fengjiang Liu, Xiao Ke, Qiang Zheng, Xun Sun | Xiao Ke, Qiang Zheng, Xun Sun | Chengdu Origen Biotechnology Co. Ltd, China | Nature Communications | 26 | 10.1038/s41467-024-48221-4 |
| 16 | Real-World Safety and Effectiveness of Voretigene Neparvovec: Results up to 2 Years from the Prospective, Registry-Based PERCEIVE Study | M. Dominik Fischer, Francesca Simonelli, Jayashree Sahni, Frank G. Holz, Rainer Maier, Christina Fasser, Andrea Suhner, Daniel P. Stiehl, Bee Chen, Isabelle Audo, Bart P. Leroy | M. Dominik Fischer | University of Tübingen, Germany | Biomolecules | 24 | 10.3390/biom14010122 |
| 17 | CRB1-associated retinal degeneration is dependent on bacterial translocation from the gut | Shanzhen Peng, Jing Jing Li, Wanying Song, Ye Li, Lei Zeng, Qiaoxing Liang, Xiaofeng Wen, Haitao Shang, Keli Liu, Peiyao Peng, Wei Xue, Bin Zou, Liu Yang, Juanran Liang, Zhihui Zhang, Shixin Guo, Tingting Chen, Wenxuan Li, Ming Jin, Xiang-Bin Xing, Pengxia Wan, Chunqiao Liu, Haotian Lin, Hong Wei, Richard W J Lee, Feng Zhang, Lai Wei | Shanzhen Peng | Sun Yat-sen University, China | Cell | 24 | 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.040 |
| 18 | Phase 1/2 AAV5-hRKp.RPGR (Botaretigene Sparoparvovec) Gene Therapy: Safety and Efficacy in RPGR-Associated X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa | Michel Michaelides, Cagri G Besirli, Yesa Yang, Thales A C DE Guimaraes, Sui Chien Wong, Rachel M Huckfeldt, Jason I Comander, José-Alain Sahel, Syed Mahmood Shah, James J L Tee, Neruban Kumaran, Anastasios Georgiadis, Pansy Minnick, Robert Zeldin, Stuart Naylor, Jialin Xu, Michael Clark, Eddy Anglade, Peggy Wong, Penny R Fleck, Albert Fung, Colleen Peluso, Angelos Kalitzeos, Michalis Georgiou, Caterina Ripamonti, Alexander J Smith, Robin R Ali, Alexandria Forbes, James Bainbridge | Michel Michaelides | UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, United Kingdom | American Journal of Ophthalmology | 24 | 10.1016/j.ajo.2024.05.034 |
| 19 | Single-cell analyses reveal transient retinal progenitor cells in the ciliary margin of developing human retina | Birthe Dorgau, Joseph Collin, Agata Rozanska, Darin Zerti, Adrienne Unsworth, Moira Crosier, Rafiqul Hussain, Jonathan Coxhead, Tamil Dhanaseelan, Aara Patel, Jane C Sowden, David R FitzPatrick, Rachel Queen, Majlinda Lako | Rachel Queen, Majlinda Lako | Newcastle University, United Kingdom | Nature Communications | 23 | 10.1038/s41467-024-47933-x |
| 20 | Spectrum of Genetic Variants in the Most Common Genes Causing Inherited Retinal Disease in a Large Molecularly Characterized United Kingdom Cohort | Siying Lin, Sandra Vermeirsch, Nikolas Pontikos, Maria Pilar Martin-Gutierrez, Malena Daich Varela, Samantha Malka, Elena Schiff, Hannah Knight, Genevieve Wright, Neringa Jurkute, Mark J Simcoe, Patrick Yu-Wai-Man, Mariya Moosajee, Michel Michaelides, Omar A Mahroo, Andrew R Webster, Gavin Arno | Gavin Arno | University College London, United Kingdom | Ophthalmology Retina | 23 | 10.1016/j.oret.2024.01.012 |

## Topic trends

### What Topics Define the Class of 2026?

The Class of 2026 in Retinal Development and Disorders is defined by a strong focus on cellular models and specific disease states. Retinal pigment epithelium and retinal organoids emerge as the most prominent topics, reflecting the field's ongoing reliance on advanced in vitro models for studying retinal biology and disease mechanisms. Retinitis pigmentosa is the most highly featured disorder, indicating a major clinical focus on inherited retinal dystrophies. Additionally, therapeutic strategies like anti-VEGF therapy and gene therapy play a significant role, highlighting the translational emphasis of recent high-impact publications.

*Leading research themes*

### How Did Topics Shift from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026?

The transition from the Class of 2025 to the Class of 2026 reveals a pronounced shift toward targeted therapeutics. Notably, anti-VEGF therapy experienced the most dramatic rise, with a 6-fold increase in frequency among top papers, reflecting its expanding applications and new treatment regimens. Retinitis pigmentosa and neovascular AMD also saw significant growth, underscoring an increased emphasis on both inherited and age-related retinal diseases. Conversely, foundational topics such as single-cell RNA sequencing and retinal ganglion cells saw a relative decrease in prominence, suggesting a maturation of basic transcriptomic mapping efforts in favor of translational and clinical applications.

*How topics shifted year over year*

## Cite this ranking

```
Pepkio Research Index (PRI). Topics and Trends in Most Cited Retinal Development and Disorders Papers, Class of 2026. https://pri.pepkio.com/top-papers/retinal-development-and-disorders/2026. Accessed 2026-10-28.

Zheng Su, Tinsley Li, Thematic Shifts in Early-High-Impact Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics Research: A Bibliometric and Semantic Analysis. bioRxiv 2026.07.04.736459; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.04.736459
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