New therapy barriers and challenges for retinal degenerative diseases

Receiving diagnose for an ocular disorder forces to re-define the life of a great part of its patients. Getting to know new therapies to cover retina degenerative diseases, sharing experiences with experts of the international atmosphere and debating on the role of patient associations are the main points of the meeting “Avançant cap a les noves teràpies: reptes actuals dels pacients”, which will take place next October 8, in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Biology, to celebrate the World Sight Day 2016.

The meeting, held by the University of Barcelona, the Biomedical Research Center on Rare Diseases (CIBERER) and the entity VisiónEspaña, will also be a platform to promote sensitivity and social commitment for a wide range of sight pathologies that affect millions of people around the world.

Advancing to the future in the treatment of retina pathologies

The meeting will start with the conference “Teràpia gènica de les distròfies de retina, Èxits assolits i reptes de futur” (10 h), by the researcher Roser Gonzàlez, professor at the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and member of the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB), and an expert of reference in the field of genetics on hereditary retina degenerative diseases. Marcela Ciccioli, president of the Association for Parents of Children with Stargardt Disease (APNES) in Argentina, will talk about “Funcions i reptes de les associacions de pacients” (10.45h). At 12 h, there will be a roundtable with the participation of experts that will cover topics such as evolution and the future of associations (Andrés Mayor, president of Es Retina Asturias); scientific committee in associations (Maria del Carmen Herrera, president and founder of the Association Atrophy of Leber Cranial Nerve, ASANOL), low vision, an unknown reality (Arantza Uliarte, medical responsible of Retinosis Gipuzkoa Begisa); integration and civil rights (Jose Angel Carrey, president of the Catalan Association for the Integration of the Blind, ACIC); the ability of the affected ones to drive and promote research (Manel Martí, president of the Association for Visual Disability in Catalonia B1+B2+B3); an organization model (Jordi Cruz, delegate of Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases in Catalonia (FEDER), the need to converge (Jose Maria Casado, president of the Association Vision Action Spain), and lastly, the importance of the genetic diagnose on rare diseases (Natalia Fruttero, consultant at Spark Therapeutics).

The roundtable will be chaired by Roser Gonzàlez, head of the consolidated Research Group of Functional Genomics of the University of Barcelona, specialized in the study of the genetic and molecular basis of ocular pathologies, and especially on hereditary retina diseases.

More information can be read in this link (Spanish)

Image: The meeting will also be a platform to promote sensitivity and social commitment for a wide range of sight pathologies.