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For science geeks like me, the announcement of Nobel Prize for Medicine winners is always exciting news. But this year’s two recipients are especially near and dear to my heart, because their groundbreaking work is having an enormous impact on sight-saving retinal research.
Archive for the News Commentary Category
I was very heartened to hear about and then see a recent news story on the first patient to be treated in the Usher syndrome 1B gene therapy clinical trial at Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University. When I saw the big smile on the face of Michelle Kopf, the young woman featured in the article, it brought a smile to my face.
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Amazing what a little ingenuity, coupled with a basic need, can make happen. Twenty-four-year-old Anirudh Sharma, a computer engineer from India, has, according to a recent article in The Economist, come up with a design for a shoe that would help the visually impaired get where they need to go – without a cane, a dog or any other form of assistance.
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We, at Eye on the Cure, like to keep folks up-to-date on the latest retinal research developments, as soon as they’re vetted – meaning verified as legitimate – and/or come in. But we also appreciate when the mainstream media chimes in, especially when they cite the Foundation’s efforts and expertise.
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What a difference a year makes. Last year, competing in the teen category of the Miss Florida USA pageant, Connor Boss stumbled on a set of stairs while making her way to the stage. Only family and friends knew the reason why. This year, the 18-year-old will compete in the same pageant as an adult. And thanks to ABC’s Good Morning America, she’ll do so as someone known to have Stargardt disease.
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Well, this is a first: the Foundation was mentioned, this week, in Rolling Stone magazine. Why? Because one of our fundraising dinner events, “Fashion Ball: Dining in the Dark,” brought together professionals from both the fashion and music industries at the The Plaza Hotel in New York City and raised more than $370,000.
Back in February, in a post noting Rare Disease Day, I mentioned how the Foundation’s research has applications that go beyond our purview, mainly because the retina is, in fact, neural tissue, or an extension of the brain. So some treatments we fund may someday help people with conditions unrelated to the eye.
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Last February, I blogged about the emergence of “bionic” or artificial retinas for restoring some vision in people who are blind from retinal diseases. In that post, I featured Second Sight’s vision-restoring device, the Argus II, which is now on
the market in Europe and, hopefully, soon in the United States.
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A highly-magnified image of photoreceptors, also known as rods and cones, in the human retina.
So, here I am catching up on some journal reading, when Nature sends out an eblast touting new exciting advances in stem cell work, including a paper about the eye. Of course, I immediately jump to the site and find a research paper published online that reports on the modestly successful transplantation of precursor rod cells — cells that are more developed than stem cells but not quite mature rod cells — into mice with night blindness (congenital stationary night blindness). While vision improvement was not dramatic, the treated mice did see better in dim lighting; they were able to navigate a water maze in greatly reduced light much better than untreated mice. Continue Reading…
Steve is highly respected for his expertise and tireless commitment to finding treatments and cures for vision-robbing retinal diseases. 
As the Foundation's senior science writer, Ben writes science and research articles for the Foundation’s website, newsletters and Eye on the Cure blog. 
As the Foundation's senior writer, Rich writes and edits content for all of the Foundation’s print and online publications, including its blog, Eye on the Cure. 
A $2 Million Bridge Over Troubled Waters
By Rich Shea on October 30, 2012 | 3 Comments
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When most people think of Art Garfunkel, they not only think of him as half the folk-pop duo Simon & Garfunkel; they think of him as the singer of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which includes the lyrics “I’ll take your part/ when darkness comes/ and pain is all around.” Appropriately enough, you can now also think of Garfunkel as a major player in the fight against blindness.
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