The Foundation Fighting Blindness Embraces a Revitalized Vision Health Research Council
July 01, 2004
Driving the vision health research agenda forward in Canada, The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) and Vision Health Research Council (VHRC) are pleased to announce the launch of an agreement that assures the preservation and autonomy of VHRC within the auspices of the FFB.
The retirement of Dr. Jean-Réal Brunette, founder of VHRC, and the dissolution of the Sherbrooke Symposium Foundation had the potential to create a vacuum in Canada's vision research community. "We welcome our new association with VHRC. The FFB has always been about excellence in eye research and providing a home for the Council is a logical fit," says Sharon Colle, National Executive Director of the FFB
President of VHRC is Dr. Martin Steinbach, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology and Biology at York University and Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Toronto. He is a prominent advocate for vision health research in Canada and perceives the union as advantageous. "The merging of FFB and VHRC will provide a true symbiosis, bringing our common goals of restoring sight and preventing blindness closer to fruition," Dr. Steinbach states.
The FFB and VHRC have vision health in common, but otherwise they are quite different entities. As Canada's leading health charity supporting eye research, the FFB has led the charge to find the causes and treatment of inherited and degenerative retinal diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. The mission of the Vision Health Research Council, a progressive group of vision health research professionals, is broadly based and includes the promotion of research in vision health and the presentation of the work and opinions of Canadian investigators of all disciplines, fields and aspects of science and medicine related to vision.
The VHRC facilitates vision health research in Canada by bringing together a large and powerful group of investigators and focusing their energies on the vision health priorities that are emerging in Canada. It sees its task as coordinating the efforts of Canadian vision research scientists, developing collaborative projects, and establishing an integrated research community capable of responding to the expanding vision health research needs.
"For 30 years the FFB has dedicated its resources to finding the causes, treatments and cures for degenerative retinal diseases," says Colle. "Our alliance with the Vision Health Research Council can only enhance these efforts, and in the meantime help all Canadians suffering with vision loss. It is only by working together that we can succeed.'"
For information about The Foundation Fighting Blindness visit: www.ffb.ca and Vision Health Research Council: www.vhrc.net.
Contact:
Sharon Colle
The Foundation Fighting Blindness
1.800.461.3331
scolle@ffb.ca
Dr. Martin J. Steinbach
mjs@yorku.ca
York Univ. Website: http://cvr.yorku.ca/webpages/steinbach.htm
Vision Science Research Website: http://vsrp.uhnres.utoronto.ca/
Vision Health Research Council of Canada Website: http://vhrc.net