Overview of FFB Research
The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) supports and oversees promising research, ultimately to prevent vision loss and restore vision, thus enhancing the lives of those affected by blindness. It supports world-class research at prominent hospitals and universities across Canada, which is advancing discovery and knowledge of the causes, treatments and cures for genetic eye diseases that cause blindness.
No other Canadian organization is dedicated solely to research and public education to combat genetic eye diseases that cause blindness. No other Canadian organization contributes 71% of its total revenue directly to vision research. The FFB is the leading private contributor to Canadian vision research.
Since 1974, The FFB has pioneered vision research advancements that have helped bring scientists to a critical juncture in research today. Since its inception, The FFB has funded $16 million in vital research and has been responsible for many important research milestones.
Research projects that receive FFB funding have to meet Funds Allocations Guidelines through intensive peer-review by the FFB’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which is made up of top Canadian and non-Canadian scientists and ophthalmologists. The FFB Research Funding Program consists of two funding streams: Strategic Initiatives and Investigator-Initiated Grants, the latter of which includes: Operating grants; Scholar grants for beginning investigators; Postdoctoral Fellowships; and Graduate Student Scholarships.
Promising areas of FFB-supported research, past and present, include: genetic research (discovery of degeneration-causing genes and mutations), gene therapy (replacing missing functions or suppressing damaging effects of mutant genes); stem cell research (replacement of lost rod and cone photoreceptors); cell implantation (delivery of neuroprotective substances to slow down or prevent retinal degeneration); and nutritional therapies (to replace essential substances that are missing because of gene mutations).