Recordings from the Stargardt's Summit

On Thursday, February 29, the Stargardt's Summit, made possible with the support from Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, was hosted by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Prevent Blindness, the Carroll Center for the Blind, and The Blind Life. This virtual summit enabled participants to learn about the newest Stargardt research, explore adaptive living resources, hear impactful patient stories, and connect with others going through similar journeys.

The summit consisted of three panels:

• Patient Panel – Kira Baldonado, Vice President of Public Health and Policy at Prevent Blindness, guided a conversation with panelists Chloé Duplessis, Charlie Collins, and Jack Duffy-Protentis who shared their personal experiences with Stargardt.
• Medical/Research Panel – Ben Shaberman, Vice President of Science Communications at Foundation Fighting Blindness, guided a conversation with panelists Dr. Jason Comander M.D., Dr. Peter Zhao M.D., and Dr. Abigail Jensen Ph.D on the latest Stargardt research and the biological basis of the disease.
• Accessibility and Adaptive Strategies Panel – Tina Laffer, Director of Outreach and Community Engagement at The Carroll Center for the Blind, guided a conversation with panelists Sam Seavey and Bob McGillivray to explore the latest tools and strategies to navigate the world with Stargardt.

Below are the recordings from the summit.

Part 1: Introduction & Keynote by Bradford Manning 

Part 2: The Patient Panel with Kira Baldonado, Jack Duffy Protentis, Charlie Collins, and Chloe Duplessis, followed by a short preview of “Seeing Stars”, a new film about Stargardts 

Part 3: The Research Panel with Ben Shaberman, Drs. Jason Comander MD PhD, Abigail Jensen PhD, and Peter Zhao MD

Part 4: The Accessibility & Adaptive Living Panel with Tina Laffer, Bob McGillivray, and Sam Seavey

Part 5: An audio recording of the closing virtual Q&A session