2 www.fightblindness.org
CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN
David Brint
Chairman
Foundation Fighting Blindness
www.fightblindness.org
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T
ERS OF THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS
FALL 2016
❮ QUOTABLE ❯
TYPE 2A STUDY
➾WHAT’S
INSIDE
Pg. 2 | NEI/FDA Endpoints
Workshop
Pg. 3 | New Digital Campaign:
#HowEyeSeeIt
Pg. 5| ChallengeMatch r$111M
Disease
minar
Workshop Will Discuss Best Clinical Measures
to be Used in Trials Evaluating Treatment for Dry
AMD and Retinal Inherited Diseases
FFB is teaming with the Nation- al Eye Institute, the Associ- ation for Research in Vision
and Ophthalmology and the Food
and Drug Administration to host a
November workshop to help clini-
cians, regulators and drug devel-
opers reach agreement on the most
meaningful clinical endpoints to be
used in trials evaluating the efficacy
and safety of potential treatments
for inherited retinal disease and dry
AMD. The one-day conference will
also focus on approaches to classi-
fying and stratifying the inherited
retinal disease population and will
look to uncover gaps in current
research funding.
“This workshop is particularly
significant because it will bring
together so many of the important
players in inherited retinal disease
research including researchers,
clinicians, clinical trials experts and
the pharmaceutical industry,” says
Patricia Zilliox, Chief Drug Development Officer of FFB’s Clinical
Research Institute who spearheaded
the planning of this workshop.
“What makes this workshop
so important is the opportunity
to reach agreement on the most
appropriate trial design and clinical
measures between all parties. Doing
so will help propel the development
of new innovative therapeutic ap-
proaches,” says Dr. Zilliox.
The workshop will be held on
November 9 at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda,
Maryland. It will also be telecast as
a webinar. For more information
visit: http://www.arvo.org/End-
points2016/.
... TO SERVE AS THE CHAIRMAN of the Foundation
Fighting Blindness. Replacing a legend, Gordon Gund, is
no easy task. The good news is that the FFB will still benefit
m his wisdom as he continues to serve on our Board
Directors.
While the role of chairman is new for me, I have had the
onor of serving in leadership roles for the Foundation for
ose to 20 years including as a member of the Board of
Directors, vice-chairman for research and as chair of the
FFB’s Research Oversight Committee. During these nearly
two decades, I have seen amazing advancements in our
understanding of retinal degenerative diseases and how to
treat them. I am extremely proud of and encouraged by
It Is My Honor...