[nfb-talk] {Disarmed} FW: A personal report from Chairman GordonGund

John Heim john at johnheim.net
Fri Apr 22 13:54:29 UTC 2011


I want one of those artificial retinas.  I'm going to get one with x-ray 
vision. Maybe super secret night vision too. And then I'm going to get a job 
working for the CIA. Or maybe Playboy. I'm not sure, I haven't decided yet.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "S Baker" <srbaker12 at hotmail.com>
To: "AMoLList" <missouri-l at moblind.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 4:13 PM
Subject: [nfb-talk] {Disarmed} FW: A personal report from Chairman 
GordonGund






SRBaker






Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:00:24 -0500
From: GGund at FightBlindness.org
To: srbaker at charter.net
Subject: A personal report from Chairman Gordon Gund











Like you, Steven, I follow the work of the Foundation Fighting Blindness 
closely. As a donor, I want to know that my donations make a difference.

And believe me, they do.  When I reflect on the last year and listen to this 
video, I am reminded that we have more clinical trials for sight-saving 
treatments underway than ever before.  Clearly, hope and optimism are 
running high.  Incredible strides have been made in the last few years, and 
these remarkable advances would not have been made without your support of 
the Foundation. They include:

Vision Restored.  We are continuing to build on remarkable gains in gene 
therapy.  As you may recall, in a Foundation-funded trial, 9-year-old Corey 
Haas and 19 others received a gene therapy treatment and can now see.  And 
as the trial has expanded, participants have shown sustained improvement in 
vision.  Building on this success, similar gene therapy treatments are 
moving into clinical trials for choroideremia, Stargardt disease and Usher 
syndrome.

Innovative Technology.  The high-tech industry has a treatment I’m 
incredibly excited about-- the world’s first commercially available 
artificial or “bionic” eye. Early funding from the Foundation was key to 
getting this engineered retina off the ground.  Building on the studies we 
funded, the light-sensing, implantable “chip” has been tested in a clinical 
trial in Europe with great results. In the study, people who were profoundly 
blind experienced improved vision that could help them to be more 
independent.  In fact, many can now see shapes and recognize large letters.

Groundbreaking Therapies.  A research team funded by the Foundation Fighting 
Blindness developed an innovative technique for correcting the 
disease-causing gene by using stem cells derived from a person’s skin. While 
more work is needed to ensure safety, this advancement suggests that doctors 
may someday be able to treat a patient’s retinal disease using their own 
skin cells.
These few accomplishments barely begin to tell the story of all the progress 
that’s being made.  And this is why words can never express my personal 
gratitude for your passionate and committed support.

I hope you will take a few minutes to watch the video and see the results of 
your support and the hope it has generated. But most importantly, I hope you 
will see that research is progressing at a terrific rate.  It’s been a long 
time coming, but we crossed a critical threshold when our researchers 
actually restored sight. It launched us into a new era when more and more 
people will have their sight saved or restored every year.  A lot of work 
remains.  But we’ll get there by continuing to work together.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness values the support you give us by 
donating, talking to your friends, and advocating for increased research 
funding.  As we continue our relentless pursuit to eradicate blindness, we 
hope you will continue your steadfast support of our mission. Thanks for 
envisioning a bright future for the millions affected by retinal 
degenerative diseases.




Sincerely,

Gordon Gund










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