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Posts tagged clinical trials

A Person of Action: One Woman’s Clinical Trial Experience

Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson admits she’s stubborn. “It’s the German in me,” she says. “I don’t ever give in.” So when she was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, or RP, a hereditary disease that progressively diminishes eyesight, the mother of three didn’t crawl into a hole. She joined FFB and, for more than a dozen years, has been its Minneapolis chapter’s president. And when she heard, in the mid 2000s, that the company Neurotech would be conducting a Foundation-funded clinical, or human, trial for a treatment of RP at the University of Minnesota, she was literally the first in line to be screened for approval. Continue Reading…

Banding Together for Vision Research

National Alliance for Eye and Vision ResearchThere’s no denying that collaboration is key to every aspect of the Foundation’s work – whether it’s researchers sharing their findings among peers to advance treatments, volunteers banding together to fundraise for events or venture capitalists investing  in start-up companies developing vision-saving treatments. And my new role, as board secretary for the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research, or NAEVR, is no exception.

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Stem Cell Therapy Clinical Trial Begins With Initial Participant

Dr. Rand Spencer, left, and Dr. David Birch, surgeon and lead investigator, respectively, in the StemCells, Inc., clinical trial.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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As Requested: A List of Current Clinical Trials for Retinal Degenerations

Image of test tubes filled with different colored liquidsWithout 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…

Gene Therapies for Stargardt Disease and Wet AMD Deemed Safe Thus Far

Researcher looking through microscopeIf you’re going on a cross-country road trip, the highlight of your journey is not the safety check. Putting air in the tires, topping off the brake and power-steering fluids, making sure the front and back lights are working properly and adjusting the mirrors are not cause for raucous celebration.
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Playing a Significant Role in a Clinical Trial

Reinhard Rubow (left) and Miikka Terho.It was only a few days after what’s known as a “bionic retina” was implanted behind Miikka Terho’s left eye – the one that had completely lost vision 16 years previously – that he started to “see” again.

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Which Research Projects Will Make the Cut?

Dr. Eric Pierce, chairman of the SAB, and Amy Laster, FFB's grants and awards program managerWhen 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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The Maestro

Dr. David BirchIf you’ve been reading my blog, you’ve heard a lot about clinical trials. They’re the last series of steps in the testing process that potential treatments – whether drug, gene therapy or stem-cell – must go through before they can be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA. Clinical trials are experiments, and you can’t conduct a sound experiment without the right subjects – in this case, human beings. Continue Reading…