Choroideremia Research Foundation Supports New Research to Expand Knowledge of This Rare Inherited Retinal Disease

SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Choroideremia Research Foundation (CRF) is pleased to announce funding for its first research study in 2021 to Mariya Moosajee, MBBS, BsC (Hons), PhD, FRCOphth. She is a consultant ophthalmic surgeon and clinical academic ophthalmologist with Moorefield Eye Hospital, University College, London. In recognition of Dr. Moosajee's long history of collaboration with the CRF, she has received the Salois Family Research Award.

In Dr. Moosajee's proposal, Neuroprotection for Choroideremia, she will continue her investigation of therapies for individuals with choroideremia. Using a well-established model of choroideremia (CHM) in zebrafish, she will examine how specific molecules may protect the nerves that are damaged in patients with CHM. As a translational research project, the hope is that positive study results will lead to clinical trials in humans. 

"We are very happy to again support the research of Dr. Moosajee who has been investigating potential treatment options for patients with choroideremia for many years," said Neal Bench, CRF board president. "We are grateful to jointly support this important research with the Choroideremia Research Foundation Canada."

For more information about all research studies the CRF supports, please visit curechm.org/research/

Media Contact:
Kathi Wagner
Executive Director
Choroideremia Research Foundation, Inc.
[email protected]
(800) 210-0233 ext. 5
www.curechm.org 

About Choroideremia
Choroideremia (CHM) is a rare inherited form of blindness affecting approximately 1 in 50,000 people. Due to its x-linked inheritance pattern males are most severely affected with females usually experiencing much milder visual impairment. Symptoms begin in early childhood with night blindness and restriction of visual field being the earliest noticeable effects, eventually progressing to complete blindness. An estimated 6,000 people in the United States and 10,000 in the European Union are impacted by Choroideremia. There are currently no approved treatments for Choroideremia.

About the Choroideremia Research Foundation Inc.
The Choroideremia Research Foundation was founded in 2000 as an international fundraising and patient advocacy organization to stimulate research on CHM. Since its inception, the CRF has provided over $2.5 million in research awards and is the largest financial supporter of CHM research worldwide. Research funded by the CRF has led to the development of a CHM animal model, the pre-clinical production of gene therapy vectors currently in clinical trials, and the CRF Biobank which stores tissue and stem cell samples donated by CHM patients.  For more information, visit www.curechm.org

SOURCE Choroideremia Research Foundation

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