News

Clinical Trials

October 1, 2019

Promising Results From Ongoing Phase 1/2 Clinical Trial for X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa (XLRP)

The Retina Foundation of the Southwest is one of four U.S. centers conducting a Phase 1/2 dose escalation, gene replacement trial for x-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP). On September 26th, the clinical trial sponsor, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) announced the initial results. Investigators from all four research sites have begun seeing encouraging signs of benefit […]

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Laboratory Research

September 26, 2019

The Effectiveness of Therapeutic Drugs for AMD in the Laboratory

Ruvanthi Kularatne, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, working under the direction of Karl Csaky, M.D., Ph.D., Managing & Medical Director. Dr. Kularatne has spent the past year evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic drugs, and their impact on treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Currently, our researchers are working […]

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News/ Press Release

August 15, 2019

Introducing the Vision and Neurodevelopment Laboratory

We are pleased to announce Krista Kelly, Ph.D. as Director of the Vision and Neurodevelopment Laboratory! Dr. Krista Kelly received her Ph.D. from York University in 2014 before joining the Retina Foundation of the Southwest as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Crystal Charity Ball Pediatric Vision Laboratory. She is now transitioning into a new role […]

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Laboratory Research

August 2, 2019

Measuring the Release of A Therapeutic Drug in a Controlled Lab Setting

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has multiple stages of progression. The “dry” form is characterized by yellow deposits called drusen, that grow in size and number, leading to dimmed or distorted vision. There are currently no treatments for dry AMD. When AMD progresses to neovascular AMD, commonly known as “wet” AMD, abnormalities cause new blood vessels […]

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Clinical Trials

July 31, 2019

Retina Foundation Asks Kids to ‘Just Dance’ for Research Study

The Retina Foundation is an international leader in research on lazy eye, the most common cause of visual impairment in children. A new treatment we are working on in collaboration with Mayo Clinic has the goal of improving the standard treatment of eye patching for children with lazy eye. We are enrolling children who are […]

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Clinical Trials

July 23, 2019

Gene Therapy Trial for Choroideremia

In a clinical research study headed by Dr. David Birch, scientists in the Rose-Silverthorne Retinal Degenerations Lab are testing the efficacy of gene therapy in patients with choroideremia. This late stage trial is based on early Phase 1 studies where over 90% of treated patients maintained or improved their vision over a one-year follow-up period. […]

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News/ Press Release

July 19, 2019

FFB Pledges $300,000 to Support Dr. Yi-Zhong Wang’s Artificial Intelligence/ Deep Machine Learning Project

Yi-Zhong Wang, Ph.D., Scientific Director, Macular Function Laboratory, is working to achieve automatic and accurate identification of defects in the structure of patients’ retinas by applying deep machine learning method. Over the past year, using a cutting-edge computer system, Dr. Wang has been training a deep convolutional neural network model to learn how to detect […]

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Patient Story

May 24, 2019

What Does “Blindness” Really Mean?

Jenny Schisler has retinitis pigmentosa. Jenny wants to spread awareness of what having a visual impairment really means to her and others affected by retinal degenerative diseases. By Jenny Schisler There was recently a viral image of a visually impaired woman using a cane and looking at her phone. In ignorance, the typical person would […]

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Laboratory Research

May 16, 2019

Discovering New Therapies for AMD

The Molecular Ophthalmology Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Karl Csaky, Managing & Medical Director at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, is studying live cell cultures to investigate new potential drug treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Live cultures offer a quick and scalable solution for testing new drugs and therapies for AMD. Here, […]

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