The urgent mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. is to drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

Since its founding in 1971, the Foundation Fighting Blindness has been dedicated to funding innovative research to find preventions, treatments, and cures for inherited retinal degenerative diseases that lead to blindness and affect more than 10 million people in the United States.

FFB currently funds over 134 research studies, 71 prominent research institutions and eye hospitals worldwide, including 15 dedicated research centers.. In order to achieve our mission, we fund pioneering research in a comprehensive program that includes: cell biology, drug delivery, clinical & pre-clinical study, genetics, gene therapy, retinal cell transplantation, retinal implants and pharmaceutical and nutritional therapies.

In addition, FFB has established the National Neurovision Research Institute (NNRI) as a non-profit support subsidiary. NNRI’s mission is to expedite the translation of fundamental research into clinical trials for inherited retinal degenerative diseases, and, ultimately to accelerate the availability of patient therapies. NNRI also fosters collaborations among the scientific, clinical, governmental, pharmaceutical, and financial communities.

Finally, FFB’s mission includes public health education. We provide information on retinal degenerative diseases to all who request it, in order to increase knowledge and awareness of these diseases.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness is led by a governing board of up to 25 directors, who are elected by a board of national trustees numbering nearly 100.

FFB depends on its trustees and a nationwide volunteer fundraising network comprised of over 50 chapters to raise more than $33 million annually to fund its research initiatives. The organization’s professional staff provides management and administrative support, both from our national office in Columbia, Maryland, and our eight regional offices located throughout the United States.

http://www.fightblindness.org