Foundation Fighting Blindness

Science Plenary Session Speakers: Todd Durham, PhD; Kristi Lee, MS, CGC and Ramiro Maldonado, MD This session will discuss the importance of genetic testing and give an overview of the Foundation's My Retina Tracker® Registry.

Speakers: Todd Durham, PhD; Kristin Macdonald and Thomas Mendel, MD, PhD This session will focus on empowering patients to decide if participation in a clinical trial is right for them and discuss how natural history studies pave the way for interventional clinical trials.

Speaker: James Ashworth This session will discuss practical tips and strategies for traveling with vision loss on Southwest Airlines, information such as accessible transportation options, navigating airports, finding accessible accommodations, and using assistive technology. The session aims to empower participants with the knowledge and confidence to explore air travel regardless of their level...

Speakers: Christy Vanek and Janni Lehrer-Stein Join us for a fireside chat conversation on advocacy across the personal, workplace, and legislative levels. We will explore how advocacy relates to personal identity, what it means to act as an advocate, and personal strategies for making sustainable advocacy choices.

Foundation Board Chair David Brint sits down with Judge David Tatel to discuss vision loss, his career and latest book.

Speakers: Leslie Hoskins and Alyssa Otis Learn what to expect when applying for a guide dog, including review of the application materials and potential outcomes. Additionally, an in-depth discussion on the skills required to be approved for a guide dog from the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) standards.

Speaker: Francisco Richardson, OD Learn about devices, technologies, and low vision adaptations for work, home and education.

Speakers: David Corey, PhD and Benjamin Bakall, MD, PhD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for Usher Syndrome.

Speakers: Robert Hyde, MD, PhD and Miranda Scalabrino, PhD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Speakers: Bikash Pattnaik, PhD and Ramiro Maldonado, MD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA).

Stargardt Disease and Age Related Macular Degeneration. Speakers: Thomas Wubben, MD, PhD; Jason Miller, MD, PhD and Esther Biswas-Fiss, PhD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration.

Speakers: Nieraj Jain, MD and Andrew Goldberg, PhD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for specific retinal diseases.

Speaker: Abigail Fahim, MD, PhD This session will feature clinicans and researchers discussing recent updates for other retinal diseases, including choroideremia and X-linked retinoschisis.

July 12, 2024. Francois Paquet-Durand, PhD, a professor from the University of Tübingen and co-founder of the company Mireca, talks to host Ben Shaberman about the long journey of an emerging, Foundation-funded drug for the treatment of certain forms of retinitis pigmentosa. The episode highlights the challenges that scientists often encounter when developing a drug for a retinal disease, and the...

FDA-approved in 2021, the tiny implantable capsule provides sustained delivery of treatment, but was recalled in 2022.

For this episode of Eye on the Cure, Michael Telias, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Rochester in New York, talks with host Ben Shaberman about forthcoming clinical trials to evaluate the FDA-approved drug disulfiram (aka, Antabuse) for improving vision in people with retinitis pigmentosa and other retinal diseases. Disulfiram was originally developed to deter people from abusing...

Dr. Peter Campochiaro, a clinician-scientist and the Eccles Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, talks to host Ben Shaberman about N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a drug that shows promise for preserving cone vision (central vision and acuity) in people with retinitis pigmentosa. The powerful antioxidant has moved into a 30+ site, Phase 3 clinical...

Peter Wallsten, a veteran newspaper journalist and head of investigative reporting at The Washington Post, talks to host Ben Shaberman about his evolving career as a reporter and editor and the impact that Stargardt disease has had on his journey and ambitions. Peter also reflects on recently receiving a Pulitzer Prize for his team's 15-part series on the role of the AR-15 assault rifle in mass sh...

The emerging treatment is designed to work for people with RP and other conditions regardless of the gene mutation causing disease

No serious adverse events were reported. One patient had encouraging improvement in retinal sensitivity.

The discovery will help geneticists diagnose more RP patients with African descent.

Mutations in PDE6B are a leading cause of retinitis pigmentosa.

Matthew Whitaker talks to host Ben Shaberman about his remarkable achievements and success as a young jazz pianist and composer. Matthew was born three months prematurely and weighed less than two pounds. The oxygen he needed to stay alive also caused total blindness. But now 23 years old, the renowned music prodigy has recorded four albums, received several honors and awards, and appeared on TV s...

The XLRS gene therapy was well tolerated and resolved damaging schisis cavities in patients receiving the lowest dose.

The company’s innovative Gene Coding™ platform enables seamless insertion of DNA into selective genomic locations.