I was very excited to learn that another clinical trial using stem cells for the potential treatment of a retinal disease — in this case, dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — is now underway. StemCells, Inc. (got to love the company’s name) announced last week that its first patient was treated at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas.
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Archive for the Stem Cell Category
Without a doubt, as chief research officer at FFB, I get more questions about clinical trials – also known as human studies – than any other topic. So, I thought it would be useful to provide a list of the major clinical trials underway right now for retinal disease treatments. Continue Reading…
Ryan Lochte, I didn’t get a chance to meet. I did, however, get a picture taken with Michael J. Fox, who was very cordial but focused most of his attention—and rightly so—on a little girl with muscular dystrophy. Now, actor Steve Buscemi is a character and a half. I was there with Leah Bartos, who’s Mrs. New York, and because I’m Mrs. World, and the two of us were wearing crowns and sashes, he took a look at us and, before a photo was snapped, said, “Wow, let me get in between these two ladies.”
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A couple weeks ago, I was in China, to visit with Dr. Ruifang Sui, a Foundation-funded clinician-researcher at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing. During my time there, I felt like I had never left the United States. Don’t get me wrong — there’s no mistaking Beijing for Baltimore (the location of our national office) or Mandarin for English. But when it comes to retinal degenerations, we and the Chinese have a lot in common.
I was heartened to just learn that researchers from the Hadassah-Hebrew Medical Center in Jerusalem are receiving a $1.33 million grant from the Israeli government to advance their development of a stem cell treatment for people with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD Hadassah is also funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. We are providing the group with a three-year, $300,000 grant for development of stem cell therapies.
The ideal way to deal with a disease like age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is to prevent it from causing vision loss in the first place. For example, Dr. Barbel Rohrer is developing a Foundation-funded drug that slows retinal degeneration, and resulting vision loss, by bolstering the energy supply of cells in the retina.
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Video Included:
Now that VISIONS 2012 is over, we’re sharing with the world what attendees witnessed at the conference’s awards dinner Saturday night – an unveiling of FFB’s new logo:
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When the VISIONS 2012 conference began yesterday, the Foundation’s Science Department’s intensive work had already begun. On Wednesday afternoon, we put 15 members of our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) in a meeting room at the hotel under lock and key. For the next 24 hours, we gave them only bread and water, forbidding access to friends and loved ones, and, perhaps most Draconian, we cut off their wi-fi access.
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It seems there is no dearth of fantastic cures being touted on the Internet and in email inboxes these days. Sort of reminds me of those old Western movies where the itinerant peddler sells the magic elixir that will cure any and all ailments you have. Continue Reading…
I just learned some promising news from the stem cell research front. RIKEN, an innovative research group in Japan, is hoping to launch a clinical trial of an age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). Based on my current knowledge, this would be the first-ever iPSC-based treatment for the retina to move into a human study.
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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. 