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Each year, the Trustees of The Foundation Fighting Blindness recognize a scientist who has made a significant research contribution to fulfilling FFB's mission.
"The Trustee Award is a symbol of research excellence. It embodies the fulfillment of our urgent mission-to discover treatments and cures for retinal degenerative diseases," said FFB's Chairman, Gordon Gund during the awards presentation. "The award recognizes researchers who are advancing treatments from the laboratory to the clinic. Dr. Tao's accomplishments are even more remarkable because of the incredible challenges and obstacles she faced along the way." Dr. Tao, and her company Neurotech, developed an important drug delivery device called Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT). One of the major challenges to the treatment of eye diseases is the ability to effectively deliver drug therapies directly to the back of the eye, beyond the blood-retina barrier. ECT enables the controlled, continuous, long-term delivery of therapeutics, bypassing the blood-retina barrier. Thanks to Dr. Tao's dedication and FFB's support, a Phase I human clinical trial is currently underway for this exciting technology. This represents a significant step forward in the development of a treatment for RP. Congratulations Dr. Tao! |
This year, during a January FFB Board meeting in Florida, The Trustee Award was presented to Dr. Weng Tao, Vice President of Research and Development at Neurotech.