Meet Dr. Steve Rose
Steve is highly respected for his expertise and tireless commitment to finding treatments and cures for vision-robbing retinal diseases.
Archive for December, 2012
Found in Translation: Advancing Treatments Into Human Studies
Photo courtesy of the National Eye Institute
I am always excited when a new research paper comes across my desk reporting on an emerging treatment that has saved or restored vision in an animal or cell-based model of retinal disease. The advancement provides meaningful hope for a therapy that can benefit people. But it raises a big question for the Foundation Fighting Blindness: What will it take to move the treatment into and through human studies?
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Two days ago, as part of FFB’s “Light the Way to a Cure” fundraising campaign, I shared the story of Corey Haas, as an example of clinical trial participants benefitting from gene therapy studies the Foundation supports. In his case, the therapy’s for a retinal disease called Leber congenital amaurosis. Today, I’d like to share the story of Dick Coulson (pictured, left), who has age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people age 55 and older. It’s also the target of two treatments that are currently in clinical, or human, trials, both of which are derived from stem cells.
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Piggybacking on last week’s post by our CEO, Bill Schmidt, I wanted to tie two personal stories to exceptional advances made in retinal research in 2012. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that these advances were made possible by the generous support of FFB donors, and that future advances – which, eventually, will help 10 million Americans alone – depend on our donors’ continued support. I’ll revisit fundraising later in this post, but, first, you’ll find the first of the two stories – on how gene therapy restored some of a boy’s sight – below. The next story will be posted later this week.
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Top 12 Research Advancements of 2012
At the Foundation Fighting Blindness, we are always looking forward. Our scientists are continually focused on achieving the next sight-saving breakthrough, and our donors and volunteers are always looking for new opportunities to raise more money to drive the research.
But for a moment, as we put the wraps on 2012, it is very inspiring to look back on the past year and reflect on the many exciting advancements that have been made in our quest for treatments and cures.
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After the trials they’d been through, Chris and Doug Day were overjoyed to welcome two children, Derrick and Meredith, into the world, even though they both have a rare retinal disease that renders them legally blind. And although the Nashes discovered a year ago that their 7-year-old daughter has something called Stargardt disease, which progressively diminishes vision, they know that Gracie will conquer any challenge put before her. Louie McGee, at age 12, has already proven as much to his parents. Living with the effects of Stargardt for seven years now, he’s one of FFB’s most creative fundraisers.