Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. HQ Parent

The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) is a private non-profit organization which – by soliciting donations from individual donors, corporations, government agencies and non-profits – funds cutting-edge research aimed at providing preventions, treatments and cures for blinding retinal diseases affecting more than 10 million Americans alone.

FFB accomplishes this mission by maintaining a Research Grants Program which, over almost five decades, has facilitated scores of research advances, including a sight-restoring treatment now in clinical, or human, trials. The Foundation currently funds or had a hand in facilitating 40 clinical trials and intends to eradicate blindness due to retinal diseases by adhering to the following measures:

• Research: Since its inception, in 1971, FFB has raised more than $891 million for research that has pinpointed the primary causes of retinal diseases and laid the foundation for treatments now being tested in clinical trials.

• Public Education: FFB raises public awareness about retinal diseases through events, seminars and the media and addresses the needs of those living with retinal diseases by providing information on research and low vision aids and services.

Medical research is costly, particularly now, when the Foundation's five decades' worth of investments is paying off, with promising treatments being readied for evaluation in clinical trials, each costing tens of millions of dollars and subject to regulatory oversight by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FFB leverages its experience, expertise and partnerships with its members and leading retinal disease researchers to: a) raise funds through events, membership drives, planned giving and one-on-one queries; and b) invest in the most promising research. Our strategies include:

Research

• Recruiting and training promising medical students, researchers and faculty with career development grants so that they can pursue careers in retinal disease research.

• Facilitating collaborations that cross disciplinary, institutional and geographic boundaries through research center grants, which support research likely to accelerate the development of treatments and cures.

• Attracting individual investigator grant applicants from a worldwide pool of scientists who potentially bring new ideas, perspectives and expertise to retinal disease research; and providing qualified, independent scientists with investigator research grants.


Public Education

• Providing comprehensive patient-focused materials, including information on the symptoms, progression and available preventions and/or treatments for various retinal degenerative diseases, free of charge to individuals who request them via phone, mail or email.

• Sharing basic information, research news and stories about the impact of retinal diseases and research via print and online newsletters, emails, the Foundation's website and blog and internet social-media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

• Promoting FFB's impact by supplying print, internet, TV and radio media with stories and public service announcements.

• Training and utilizing our nationwide network of 41 chapters to provide those affected by retinal diseases with support, resources and vital information.

• Hosting public health education events and meetings during which information about FFB and retinal research is disseminated.

Since its establishment in 1971, the Foundation has raised more than $891 million and become the world's premier non-governmental funder of retinal disease research.

On an annual basis, the Foundation Fighting Blindness and the Foundation’s Clinical Research Institute fund more than 81 research grants. The research projects are conducted by more than 105 research investigators at 70 institutions, eye hospitals, and universities in the United States. The Foundation funding extends internationally to laboratories in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland.

There are 26 members on FFB's board of directors as well as 115 national trustees, and its Scientific Advisory Board consists of more than 40 renowned retinal experts. FFB has a network of 41 chapters serving the visually impaired in metropolitan areas nationwide, and its work is facilitated by a 50-person staff based in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina, and at its national headquarters in Maryland. They are aided by thousands of volunteers nationwide.

FFB also has:

• The support of corporate sponsors and partners, the National Institutes of Health and generous individual donors.

• A passionate membership network raising awareness and funds locally, regionally and nationally via chapter meetings; more than 50 5K VisionWalks nationwide; 20-plus “Dining in the Dark" events; and traditional and social media events.

• The Partners for Retinal Health program, through which FFB is promoted and supported by retinal specialists and practices nationwide.

Foundation's early investment in LUXTURNA™ boosts vision-restoring treatment for people with RPE65 mutations and will help advance other gene therapies currently in development.

In December 2017, LUXTURNA™ became the first FDA-approved gene therapy for the eye or any inherited condition.
Children and young adults who were born with severe vision loss from Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa (RPE65 mutations) are putting away their navigational canes and seeing the faces of their parents for the first time after receiving the landmark treatment.

Developed by Spark Therapeutics and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, LUXTURNA™ was made possible by the Foundation’s $10 million investment in critical lab studies, including the pioneering research of gene-therapy visionary Dr. Jean Bennett.

Today, dozens of promising gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases are in clinical trials.