Feb 4, 2025

Foundation Fighting Blindness Hosting Webinar for Eye Care Professionals: Gene Therapies for Inherited Retinal Diseases: The Nuts and Bolts, Challenges, and Opportunities

Foundation News

The free, online event at 7 p.m. ET on March 13, 2025, will feature presentations from Christine Kay, MD, Vitreoretinal Associates in Gainesville, Florida, and Thomas Mendel, MD, PhD, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

COLUMBIA, Maryland – February 4, 2024 – The Foundation Fighting Blindness, the driving force in the global development of treatments and cures for blinding diseases, will host a webinar for eye care professionals on emerging gene therapies for inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), including: retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease, and Leber congenital amaurosis.

“With dozens of trials underway for promising retinal disease gene therapies, there’s so much that eye care professionals can learn and communicate to their patients who are on challenging journeys of progressive vision loss,” says Michelle Glaze, director of professional outreach, Foundation Fighting Blindness. “We are delighted to host this informative webinar, delivered by leading clinical research experts, to empower eye doctors to provide hope and a path forward for their IRD patients and families.”

The free online course will review several topics, including:  

  • Viral delivery systems
  • Surgical techniques
  • Current clinical trials and endpoints
  • Inflammation management
  • Future directions

Event Details

Date:  Wednesday, March 13, 2025

Time: 7:00–8:00 p.m. ET

Registration (free): bit.ly/4hxhK0Z

The course will be delivered by:

Christine Kay, MD, is a vitreoretinal surgeon and IRD specialist at Vitreoretinal Associates in Gainesville, Florida. Previously, she was an assistant professor and director of the retinal fellowship and retinal genetics service at the University of Florida. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a degree in neuroscience and went to medical school at the University of Florida.  She completed her ophthalmology residency at the University of South Florida, where she was chief resident, and completed her vitreoretinal fellowship training at the University of Iowa. Dr. Kay is currently the principal investigator in 20 clinical trials. She has a large database of IRD patients (900+) with over 800 patients genotyped. Dr. Kay is also a clinical advisor for several other gene therapy companies and is actively involved in the development and optimization of IRD gene therapy protocols and trial design, as well as regulatory interactions.

Thomas Mendel, MD, PhD, is a retina surgeon and scientist at The Ohio State University (OSU) and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where he serves as an assistant professor of ophthalmology. His clinic cares for more than 300 adult and pediatric IRD patients. Dr. Mendel also directs a research team and translational laboratory to pioneer new gene therapy approaches for my many inherited retinal disease patients. He was trained in the administration of LUXTURNA gene therapy at the University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center and saw first-hand the impact of restorative gene therapy. He founded his laboratory to extend the early success of LUXTURNA to other inherited retinal diseases. His current research features a combination of novel surgical and molecular approaches and is carried out within the OSU Gene Therapy Institute.

About the Foundation Fighting Blindness
Established in 1971, the Foundation Fighting Blindness is the world’s leading private funding source for retinal degenerative disease research. The Foundation has raised more than $954 million toward its mission of accelerating research for preventing, treating, and curing blindness caused by the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases including: retinitis pigmentosa, age-related macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and Stargardt disease. Visit FightingBlindness.org for more information.

###

Media Contact:
Michelle Glaze
Director, Professional Outreach 
MGlaze@FightingBlindness.org
251-654-9758

Organization Contact:
Chris Adams
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
CAdams@FightingBlindness.org
410-423-0585