Our Mission The Retina Research Foundation, Inc (the "Foundation"), a 501 (c)(3) public Charity, was formed in 2004 to find cures for blindness, located in New York's Capital District, its purpose is to:

Fund research at a dedicated facility:

• The Retina Research Center

Promote and support patient ophthalmology advocacy:

• Blind Artists Society
• Belize Eye Mission

Support and fund international educational activities and continuing medical education seminars in collaboration with Albany Medical Center

Already retinal research conducted by the Capital District's Retina Consultants, PLLC, has helped produce prestigious new medicines and pioneered therapies that have saved and restored eyesight in numerous patients that are now standards of care. Paul M. Beer, MD. The Foundation President and Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Albany Medical College, enjoys international prominence for research conducted over the last sixteen years. He is on of only five physicians nationally evaluating new research protocols for diabetic retinopathy on behalf of the National Eye Institute and the Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network.

Need and Purpose

Retinal diseases such as age related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and vein occlusions cause the vast majority of blindness in the U.S. and the developed world. Until recently, patients suffering from retinal disease had nothing but palliative treatment and preventive advice. Now, potential pharmacological cures are in sight that could revolutionize the practice of ophthalmology. Between the patients and their recovery vision, however, lie the hurdles of drug trials, FDA approval and insurance coverage for some very expensive new therapies.

Capital District's Retina Consultants, a for-profit corporation, operates as a medical practice located in The Lion's Eye Institute. It is the oldest largest single specialty group in the retinal field in New York's Capital District Area, serving patients in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, northeastern New York, western Massachusetts and southern Vermont. The closest similar facilities are located in Boston and New York City. It currently supports the cost of the Retina Research Center and its employees conduct independent research and clinical trials. The non-profit Retina Research Foundation was created to support a freestanding research center in order to serve the public need for greater availability of the promise of new treatments to more patients.

The Retina Research Center will operate under the auspices for the Retina Consultants. The Retina Consultants have performed landmark independent research and have brought to the Capital District Area new medicines and therapies in clinical trials which have saved and restored eyesight in numerous patients. A full time Retina Research Center will allow them to continue and expand their leading role in retina research and the ability to bring clinical trails to the Albany area.