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Foundation Fighting Blindness : Science & Research > Research Articles
| LCA: Good Morning America Media Clip 04/29/2008 Groundbreaking research partly funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. |
| Breaking News from the Foundation Fighting Blindness 04/28/2008 Now They See - Landmark Gene Therapy Provides Vision to Nearly Blind Young Adults |
| Paris Research Center Focused on Moving Promising Treatment into Clinical Trials By Ben A. Shaberman 04/28/2008 In 2005, French researchers José Sahel, M.D., and Thierry Léveillard, Ph.D., won the Foundation’s Annual Trustee Award for the most promising advance of the year: Identifying a protein that shows great potential for preserving vision in people affected by a variety of retinal degenerative diseases. |
| New Model of Artificial Retina Moves into Human Studies By Ben A. Shaberman 04/28/2008 For people with the most advanced retinal degenerative disease — those who are blind or have only light perception — artificial retinas are providing noteworthy promise for restored vision. |
| Congressional Briefing Underscores the Importance of Vision Research Funding By Ben Shaberman 01/08/2008 Top leaders from the vision research community came to Capitol Hill on October 31 to brief 70 congressional staff and guests about the critical need for research funding to eradicate vision-robbing retinal diseases that affect more than nine million Americans. |
| Why It’s Important to Stay in Touch with Your Retinal Specialist By Ben A. Shaberman 11/27/2007 For many years, people with retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, and Stargardt disease have been frequently told by their eye care professionals that there’s nothing they can do. |
| Emerging Treatments for Stargardt and Dry AMD May Also Work for Best Disease By Ben A. Shaberman 11/27/2007 An international team of investigators found that a toxic substance called A2E, which is believed to cause vision loss in people with Stargardt disease and age-related macular degeneration, may also be the vision-robbing culprit in Best disease. |
| Treatment May Prevent Recurrence of Wet AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 11/27/2007 The latest therapies for wet age-related macular degeneration — treatments such as Lucentis™ and Macugen® — are administered every four to six weeks to stop hemorrhaging underneath the retina that causes sudden and signifi can't vision loss. |
| Nanoparticles Show Promise for Delivering Vision-Restoring Genes to the Retina By Ben A. Shaberman 08/27/2007 An investigative team funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness demonstrated that nanoparticles may be a safe and effective way to correct genetic variations that cause vision-robbing retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP). |
| FFB Receives $1 Million Gift to Advance Research for XLRP By Ben A. Shaberman 08/14/2007 Thanks to a $1 million gift to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, researchers are one step closer to curing a severe, vision-robbing retinal disease known as X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP). |
| Genetic Breakthrough Gives New Hope to Family’s Fight Against Blindness By Ben A. Shaberman 06/04/2007 An international team of Foundation-funded researchers found a variation in a gene called LCA5 that is responsible for vision loss. |
| Potential Cure for Blind Children Moves into a Human Study By Ben Shaberman 05/30/2007 Children born blind from a devastating retinal condition called Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) may soon be able to see thanks to an innovative gene replacement therapy that has just moved into a clinical trial. |
| Human Neural Stem Cells Show Potential for Vision Rescue By Ben A. Shaberman 05/30/2007 An FFB-funded research team from the University of Wisconsin and the University of Utah used human neural stem cells. |
| Eye Drop Attacks AMD on Three Fronts By Ben A. Shaberman 05/30/2007 An eye drop developed by Othera Pharmaceuticals holds potential for being a uniquely effective treatment for age-related macular degeneration. |
| Stargardt Disease Experts Convene to Advance Clinical Trials By Ben A. Shaberman 05/30/2007 Stargardt Disease Experts Convene to Advance Clinical Trials On April 6, 2007, the Foundation Fighting Blindness convened 17 of the world’s top Stargardt disease researchers to accelerate the advancement of emerging treatments into clinical trials. |
| Umbilical Cord Tissue Shows Promise as Retinal Disease Treatment By Ben A. Shaberman 05/30/2007 FFB-funded investigator Ray Lund, Ph.D., Oregon Health and Science University, in collaboration with Centocor, a biomedicine company, used human umbilical cord tissue (hUTC) to rescue vision in a rodent model of retinal degenerative disease. |
| Is a Genetic Test Right for You? By Ben A. Shaberman 05/01/2007 Is there a benefi t in trying to determine the genetic variation that is causing your condition? |
| Drug Reduces Swelling of Central Retina in Patients with RP By Ben A. Shaberman 05/01/2007 Cystoid macula edema (CME) is a complication in approximately 10-15 percent of people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP). CME can cause increased vision loss and retinal deterioration beyond what occurs as a result of RP. |
| New Usher Model Bolsters Prospects for Future Treatments By Ben A. Shaberman 05/01/2007 Foundation-funded researchers have developed a mouse model of Usher syndrome type 2A (Usher 2A) that provides experts with better targets for treatments and a better platform for preclinical testing of potential therapies. |
| FFB-Funded Researchers Make Key Advances in Gene Therapy for Usher 1B By Ben A. Shaberman 05/01/2007 The laboratories of David S. Williams, Ph.D., University of California at San Diego, and Xian-Jie Yang, University of California at Los Angeles, have successfully used gene therapy to treat mice with the same genetic defect that causes Usher syndrome 1B (Usher 1B) in humans. |
| Neurotech begins Phase II/III human studies of treatment for retinitis pigmentosa By Ben Shaberman 04/18/2007 Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has begun enrollment of participants in two multicenter Phase II/III human clinical trials for an innovative treatment to slow the progression of a group of blinding diseases known as retinitis pigmentosa. |
| Day of Science 2007 Review By Ben Shaberman 03/30/2007 Review summaries of the presentations, activities and events. |
| DHA to be Studied as Treatment for X-Linked RP By Ben A. Shaberman 02/20/2007 An FFB-funded investigative team from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest is conducting a Phase II clinical trial of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for the treatment of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP). |
| Dr. Matthew LaVail Receives Llura Liggett Gund Award for Excellence in Retinal Degeneration Research 01/26/2007 The most prestigious honor awarded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness. |
| Emerging Therapy Knocks Out Disease-Causing Gene in Dominant RP By Ben A. Shaberman 01/18/2007 Foundation-funded researchers from the University of Florida have made an important advancement in the development of gene therapy to treat people with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP). |
| HTRA1 Gene: Investigators Find Another Important Piece of the AMD Puzzle By Ben A. Shaberman 01/18/2007 A recent FFB-funded study has determined that variations in the gene HTRA1 significantly increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The finding provides another piece to the complex puzzle of what causes people to develop AMD — a puzzle which includes multiple genetic and environmental risk factors. |
| NEI to Evaluate New Dietary Supplement for Reducing AMD Risk By Ben A. Shaberman 01/18/2007 The National Eye Institute (NEI) is launching a large clinical study to determine if dietary supplementation with the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, and/or the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA can reduce the risk of advanced dry and wet forms of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). |
| Stem Cells for the Treatment of Inherited Retinal Diseases By Ben A. Shaberman 01/18/2007 Researchers funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness are making major strides in moving stem cell therapies into the clinic to treat the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases. |
| Phase II Clinical Trial of Fenretinide Planned for Dry AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 01/18/2007 Sirion Therapeutics has announced plans for a Phase II clinical trial of fenretinide for the treatment of advanced cases of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Study enrollment will begin shortly at multiple sites throughout the country. |
| Stem Cells Hold Promise for Saving and Restoring Vision By Stephen Rose, Ph.D., FFB Chief Research Officer 01/01/2007 As the lead science representative for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, I’d like to take this opportunity to educate you about the science of stem cells, and how they are being studied for treatment of retinal degenerative disease. |
| Transplanted Retinal Cells Restore Vision in Mice -- Major Step in Retinal Repair for Humans By Ben A. Shaberman 11/09/2006 An international retinal research team funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness has restored vision in mice with retinitis pigmentosa through the transplantation of developing photoreceptor cells. |
| Foundation Partnership to Accelerate Development of Gene Therapy for Stargardt Disease By Ben A. Shaberman 10/02/2006 |
| Investigators Pioneer Use of Stem Cells to Rescue Vision By Ben A. Shaberman 09/21/2006 In an investigation funded by the Foundation, researchers have made a key breakthrough toward utilizing stem cells to save and restore vision in people with age-related macular degeneration and other retinal degenerative diseases. |
| Gene Therapy Gives Sight to Chicks: Big Step Toward Treatment for Blind Children By Ben A. Shaberman 09/19/2006 Foundation-funded researchers from the University of Florida delivered sight-giving gene therapy to unhatched chicks that would otherwise be born blind from a form of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). These chicks are affected by the same genetic variation that causes children to be born blind from a form of LCA. |
| Emerging AMD Treatments Bring Promise of Saving and Restoring Sight By Ben A. Shaberman 09/19/2006 Years of laboratory research and clinical studies are now resulting in new drugs that are helping patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) save, and in some cases, improve their vision. |
| FFB Support Helps Drug Delivery Expert Land Major NEI Grant By Ben A. Shaberman 09/18/2006 Seven years ago, the Foundation Fighting Blindness awarded a three-year, $150,000 grant to Henry F. Edelhauser, Ph.D., Director of Research at Emory Eye Center, to identify effective approaches for delivering drugs to the retina. The innovative knowledge gained from that Foundation-funded research enabled Edelhauser to recently obtain a five-year, $6 million grant for drug delivery research from the National Eye Institute. |
| Glaucoma Drug Improves Vision in People with X-Linked Retinoschisis By Ben A. Shaberman 09/18/2006 An FDA-approved drug used to treat glaucoma may help improve retinal health and restore some vision in people with X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS). |
| Spotlight on Research: Greater New York Regional Center By Ben A. Shaberman 09/15/2006 Investigators at the Foundation-funded Greater New York Regional Center are covering a lot of ground in retinal degenerative disease research. The Center - which is comprised of researchers from Columbia University, New York University, and University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey Medical School - is conducting studies ranging from rehabilitative treatment to gene therapy to cell transplantation. |
| Educational Symposia Highlight Treatment Advances By Ben A. Shaberman 07/06/2006 The Foundation’s first symposium was held at the University of California, Los Angeles on June 24. |
| FDA Approves Lucentis for Wet AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 06/30/2006 Genentech announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lucentis™ for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). |
| DHA and EPA in Diet May Slow Progress of Dominant Stargardt Disease By Ben A. Shaberman 05/05/2006 In an FFB-funded study of a family affected by the dominant form of Stargardt disease, Paul Bernstein, M.D., Ph.D., of the Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, found that affected members who had higher levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosopentaenoic acid (EPA) in their blood cells and fatty tissue also had better vision. |
| FFB Research Center: Patients Drive the Research at Southwest Regional Research Center By Ben A. Shaberman 05/05/2006 When people are first diagnosed with a rare retinal degenerative disease such as retinitis pigmentosa, the realities of potential vision loss, including the impact it may have on quality of life, are often overwhelming. The good news is that researchers are making excellent progress in moving preventions, treatments, and cures forward; with support from FFB, many promising therapies are moving out of the laboratory and into human clinical trials. |
| Tiny Implanted Telescope Restores Some Vision in End-Stage AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 05/05/2006 Almost 90 percent of people with end-stage wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who received the Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) in a Phase II/III multicenter clinical trial experienced meaningful improvement in their visual acuity. |
| Day of Science 2006 Review By Ben Shaberman 05/01/2006 Review summaries of the presentations, activities and events. |
| Variations in three genes account for 74 percent of AMD cases By Ben A. Shaberman 03/08/2006 Researchers have determined that three genes, when analyzed together, account for 74 percent of all cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). |
| Promising results from Phase I human study of gene therapy for halting AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 02/13/2006 GenVec, Inc., a biotechnology company in Gaithersburg, Maryland, has announced that its gene therapy for the treatment of the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has shown good results in a 12-month, 28-patient, Phase I trial. |
| Phase II Human Clinical Trials Announced for Promising Retinal Disease Treatment By Ben A. Shaberman 01/10/2006 Neurotech, a biotechnology company with operations in the U.S. and France, has announced that it is initiating a Phase II human clinical trial of its Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) for the treatment of vision loss due to the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Two Phase II studies of the ECT for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa are also planned for the second quarter of this year, once the dry AMD trials are underway. |
| FFB Offers Free Information Packet to Help with Genetic Testing Process By Ben A. Shaberman 12/20/2005 For people with retinal degenerative diseases and their family members, genetic testing can reveal valuable information about the disease, including: the likelihood of passing it on to children, the potential severity of long-term vision loss, eligibility for forthcoming clinical trials, and the benefits of emerging treatments. |
| FFB Research Center: Kearn Family Research Center Thrives as Center Without Walls By Ben A. Shaberman 12/20/2005 In recent years, technologies such as the World-Wide Web and e-mail have emerged to greatly enhance communication and collaboration among organizations with common goals. The Kearn Family Research Center at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), led by Center Coordinator Matthew LaVail, Ph.D., is an allied group of universities successfully utilizing information technology to bolster and speed research to treat retinal degenerative diseases. |
| NNRI Symposium Proceedings Published in RETINA By Ben A. Shaberman 12/20/2005 The proceedings from the National Neurovision Research Institute’s (NNRI) groundbreaking 2004 Symposium on accelerating clinical research for treating retinal degenerative diseases has been published as a supplement to the December 2005 issue of the journal RETINA. |
| Biopharmaceutical Company Planning Clinical Trial for Dry AMD Treatment By Ben A. Shaberman 11/07/2005 Sytera, Inc., of La Jolla, California, is planning a human clinical trial to study fenretinide for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Sytera is in the process of filing an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, and once the study is allowed by FDA, they will begin their clinical program. The trial is currently scheduled to begin during the first half of 2006. |
| FFB Research Center: Retinal Disease Research Thrives at Michigan, Thanks to Corn Flake Magnate By Ben A. Shaberman 11/07/2005 While working as a bookkeeper at a sanitarium, W. K. Kellogg probably didn’t consider himself to be much of a researcher. However, in 1894, his discovery of what would later become Kellogg’s Corn Flakes came from his research of dietary alternatives for vegetarian sanitarium residents. |
| New Genetic Testing Microchip Enables Researchers to Cast a Bigger Net By Ben A. Shaberman 11/07/2005 Thanks to FFB-funded researcher Radha Ayyagari, Ph.D., and her colleagues at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center, genetic testing for autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP) just got significantly faster and more cost-effective. Before the advent of Ayyagari’s arRP-I microarray chip, researchers had to look one gene at a time for a patient’s disease-causing mutations. The arRP-I microchip now enables researchers to look at 11 genes at a time. |
| Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Treating Stargardt Disease By Ben A. Shaberman 11/07/2005 In a key step toward a clinical trial for gene therapy to treat Stargardt disease in humans, FFB-funded investigators from Columbia University have developed a safe and efficacious gene therapy for treating Stargardt disease in mice. |
| Cardiac Disease Markers Linked to Progression of AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 08/09/2005 A study conducted by FFB-funded researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI), Harvard Medical School indicates that two biomarkers for cardiac disease — C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) — are associated with an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progression. |
| New Gene Therapy Emerging for LCA Caused by RPGRIP Mutation By Ben A. Shaberman 08/09/2005 FFB-funded researchers from the Berman-Gund Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary have developed a gene replacement therapy to rescue photoreceptors in mice with a type of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) caused by a mutation in the RPGRIP gene. LCA is a severe, early onset form of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). |
| FFB Research Center: Investigators at University of Lund Want to Make History Now By Ben A. Shaberman 08/09/2005 Most people don’t know that 1666 was a pivotal year in optics and eye research. It’s when Sir Isaac Newton — homebound in Cambridge because of an outbreak of the plague in London — began studying optics and vision. |
| Update on Emerging AMD Treatments By Ben A. Shaberman 08/09/2005 The following article provides updates on emerging investigational treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in people who are 55 years of age or older. |
| Researchers Use Human Gene to Restore Vision in Mice with Retinoschisis By Ben A. Shaberman 08/02/2005 FFB-funded researchers from the University of Florida (UF) used a healthy human gene to restore sight in mice with a juvenile form of macular degeneration known as retinoschisis. |
| Retinal Stem Cells Show Potential for Future Regeneration Therapies By Ben A. Shaberman 06/28/2005 Researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) have learned how a protein called growth and differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) directs the development of retinal stem cells into photoreceptors and other retinal components. Results of the UCI study appeared in the June 24 issue of the journal Science. |
| Phase II human clinical trial planned for Neurotech capsule to treat RP By Ben A. Shaberman 06/09/2005 Neurotech has announced that the Phase I human clinical trial of its vision-preserving protein and delivery device was successfully completed. |
| FFB Research Center: Basic science plays a leading role at JSEI By Ben A. Shaberman 06/03/2005 |
| Nanoparticles: Good genes are coming in small packages By Ben A. Shaberman 06/03/2005 FFB-funded investigator Dr. Muna Naash at the University of Oklahoma, in collaboration with the biotechnology company Copernicus Therapeutics, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, demonstrated that compacted DNA nanoparticles (CDN) may be a highly effective mechanism for the delivery of healthy genes to the eyes of people with retinal degenerative disease. Dr. Naash presented her findings in May 2005 at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision (ARVO). |
| Gene variation linked to AMD By Ben Shaberman 06/03/2005 Half of all cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be caused by a variation in a particular gene, according to UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers involved in a multicenter study. |
| Phase III trial results of Lucentis encouraging for treatment of wet AMD By Ben A. Shaberman 05/25/2005 Genentech, Inc. announced today that preliminary results of its Phase III trial of Lucentis™ (ranibizumab) met primary efficacy goals for treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). |
| Moderate light exposure causes retinal damage in dogs with RP gene By Ben Shaberman 03/28/2005 FFB-funded researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, along with investigators from Cornell University, have discovered that dogs with mutations in their rhodopsin gene experienced retinal damage when they were exposed to moderate amounts of light. |
| FFB Research Center: University of Iowa’s Genetic Testing Initiative will Bolster Progress in Treating RDDs By Ben A. Shaberman 02/22/2005 Ed Stone, Val Sheffield, Tom Casavant, and their colleagues at the University of Iowa’s Center for Macular Degeneration and Allied Retinal Diseases see no reason why there shouldn’t be cost-effective, efficient, and accurate genetic testing available for every person who has an inherited retinal degenerative disease (RDD). |
| Genetics in RP and Retinal Degenerative Diseases: Discoveries, Breakthroughs, and Challenges By Ben Shaberman 02/22/2005 During the 1970s, when the Foundation first began funding retinal disease research, scientists suspected that genetics played a key role in the development of many retinal degenerative diseases (RDDs). In the early 1980s, researchers reported the first gene linkage to an RDD. And, in the late 1980s, the first RDD gene, rhodopsin, was discovered. Today, thanks to significant financial investment, hard work, and innovations in genetic technologies, 158 RDD genes have been identified. |
| Retinal Chip Study Expanded By Ben Shaberman 02/22/2005 A 10-person evaluation of the Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) microchip, developed by Optobionics (Naperville, Illinois), is being expanded to 20 patients at three sites: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Wilmer Eye Institute), Emory University School of Medicine/Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, and Rush University Medical Center. |
| Numerous Studies, Trials on Horizon for Wet AMD Treatments By Ben A. Shaberman 02/22/2005 |
| New Findings Lead to Revised Therapeutic Regimen to Slow RP By Alan Laties, M.D. Chairman of the FFB Scientific Advisory Board 09/28/2004 The research was supported by grants from The Foundation Fighting Blindness and the National Eye Institute. |
| Pharmaceutical Therapy: Progress Towards RP Clinical Trials 05/24/2004 Presented by Dr. Matthew LaVail, Director, Kearn Family Center for the Study of Retinal Degeneration, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, California |
| Scientists Inform FFB Trustees and Guests of Research Progress 02/20/2004 Pioneering research scientists and clinicians who serve on the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of The FFB constitute a world-class brain trust. In late January 2004, a panel of these SAB scientists presented the progress and goals of work in their respective fields to a gathering of FFB trustees and special guests. |
The work described in this article was made possible through generous gifts from people like you. Please click here to make a donation to the Foundation.
DISCLAIMER: Physicians differ in their approach to incorporating research results into their clinical practice. You should always consult with and be guided by your Physician’s advice when considering treatment based on research results.
