Preamble (Excerpt)

Essential impressions of our environment are being transmitted by the eye, our most important sensory organ. Thus the complete or partial loss of vision affects many aspects and activities of daily life.

For those affected, this often results in a loss of independence, the capacity to organize their lives and a profound lowering in the quality of life. Orientation, mobility, movement and communication are essential parts of human existence – without the ability to see, we lose access to our world and others around us.
Retinal diseases take away our eyesight. The spectrum of these diseases extends from the rare hereditary retinal degenerations to the more common retinal diseases, like age-related macular degeneration, which are influenced by genetic factors and, to a large degree, environmental factors.

Furthermore, many people suffer from retinal diseases like diabetic maculopathy and diseases of the optic nerves, which affect the retinal sensory cells and subsequently the nerve fibers, leading to an irretrievable visual loss. To this day, no remedial therapy or possibility of healing is available for these diseases.

By establishing the Foundation, we want to contribute to a sustained program of scientific research leading to the development of therapies in the field of hereditary and acquired retinal diseases and diseases of the optic nerve.