Retina Implant's Founder Awarded the Saudi Ophthalmological Society Gold Medal Lecture Award

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia and REUTLINGEN, Germany, March 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Retina Implant AG announced today that Professor Eberhart Zrenner, founder and lead clinical trial investigator and founding director of the Institute of Ophthalmic Research, University of Tuebingen, Germany was awarded the Saudi Ophthalmological Society Gold Medal Lecture award at the Saudi Ophthalmology 2015 annual meeting in Riyadh. The award, presented by the Society's President HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Saud, was given in recognition of Professor Zrenner's presentation on the state of artificial vision development on 2 March 2015. The award recognizes the tremendous advancements in artificial vision documented in Professor Zrenner's presentation, which underscores his contributions and dedication to the improvement of ophthalmology and ophthalmic care. 

The presentation titled, "The Various Electronic Implants For Blind Patients Presently Available & Under Development" was delivered on 3 March and discussed the use of retinal implants, including Retina Implant's Alpha IMS subretinal microchip, to restore partial vision to patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Professor Zrenner also presented four additional lectures on topics including retinal implants and the OkuStim transcorneal electrical stimulation therapy.

Speaking of the award, Professor Zrenner said, "It is an incredible honor to be presented this prestigious award by HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Saud. I accept this award on behalf of the entire research team who continue to be an integral part of the progress we have made and shared at this conference. We have long strived for a treatment that restores vision to RP patients and it is gratifying that the day we have been working towards for more than a decade is finally upon us."

"Professor Zrenner being the sole recipient of the Gold Medal Lecture award is quite an honor," said Walter-G Wrobel, CEO of Retina Implant AG. "Sharing our key learnings at the Saudi Ophthalmology Conference and receiving this award validates the significant contributions our talented clinical team is making in the treatment of retinal degeneration."

Professor Zrenner's presentation schedule included:

• "Retina: Stargardt – Macular Degeneration: Clinical Phenotype, Genetic Background and Upcoming Clinical Trials" on 2 March from 8:00-8:15 a.m.
• "The Various Electronic Implants For Blind Patients Presently Available & Under Development" on 3 March from 8:00-8:15 a.m.
• "Retina Session: Electrophysiological Tests of Retinal Function" on 4 March from 9:45-10:00 a.m.
• "Treatment with Transcorneal Electric Stimulation (TES) in Hereditary Retinal Degeneration" on 4 March from 9:45-10:00 a.m.
• "Retina: Present Developments in Therapeutic Approaches for Hereditary Retinal Dystrophies" on 4 March from 4:00-4:20 p.m.

The Saudi Ophthalmology 2015 Conference is the combined meeting of the 32nd Annual Symposium of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital and the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society, in collaboration with the Ophthalmology Department, College of Medicine, King Saud University. This conference took place at the King Fahd Cultural Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2-5 March. The conference focuses on recent advances in the following fields of ophthalmology: cataract, cornea, refractive surgery, glaucoma, pathology, oculoplastics, prevention of blindness, optometry and retina. Saudi Ophthalmology strives to update participants on the latest developments in ophthalmology techniques and equipment, share expertise from renowned international guest speakers and educate participants to provide a higher level of ophthalmic care.

About Retina Implant AG
Retina Implant AG is the leading developer of subretinal implants for partially sighted and blind patients. After extensive research with German university hospitals and institutes which began with a large grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education in 1996, Retina Implant AG was founded by Dr. Eberhart Zrenner, professor of Ophthalmology, University of Tuebingen, Germany and his colleagues in 2003 with private investors with the goal of developing a fully-functioning electronic retinal implant to restore useful vision to the blind. Retina Implant began implanting human patients in 2005 and started a second, larger clinical trial in 2010. In July 2013, Retina Implant's wireless subretinal implant technology, Alpha IMS, received CE mark. To learn more about Retina Implant, follow us on Twitter @RetinaImplant (www.twitter.com/RetinaImplant).

About Professor Eberhart Zrenner
Dr. Zrenner is founding director of the Institute of Ophthalmic Research, University of Tuebingen, Germany. His research interests include: retinal physiology and pathophysiology, neuroophthalmology, retina implants, electrophysiology and other methods of non-invasive function testing, neurodegeneration and ophthalmogenetics.

Dr. Zrenner studied electronic engineering as well as medicine at the Technical University Munich, where he obtained his MD degree in 1972. Subsequently he worked within the Max-Planck-Society for 16 years and received a Fogarty fellowship at the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD (1977 and 1978), studying temporal, spatial and chromatic characteristics of retinal ganglion cells via extracellular recordings in monkey retina. After acquiring a Privatdozent (PD) degree he received an associated professorship at the University Eye Hospital in Munich. He became full professor and Medical Director of the University Eye Hospital in Tuebingen in 1989, now Center for Ophthalmology; he also served twice as Dean of the Medical Faculty of Tuebingen and also as Visiting Professor at the State University New York N.Y. USA.

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SOURCE Retina Implant AG