The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund
|
|
|
|
The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund was founded in 2005 by Emma Salisbury and her mother Dot Grindley after Emma's son Tommy, then aged five, was diagnosed with choroideremia, a rare inherited eye condition which causes progressive loss of vision. Together, with the help of family, friends, colleagues and other families affected by choroideremia, they have fundraised tirelessly to help support vital research into the condition, organising numerous events such as golf days, coffee mornings, runs, walks and bike rides to name a few.
Since 2005, the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund has raised over £250,000 for research into choroideremia. Although there is currently no way to treat the disease, researchers headed up by Professor Miguel Seabra at Imperial College London are investigating potential treatments. Professor Sebara commented: “The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund has greatly improved our research capability, and the funding has significantly sped up the research being done, especially in gene therapy trials. As a direct consequence of their support we are now at a very exciting stage of our research into new treatments for choroideremia.”
In October 2011, funding provided by Fight for Sight through the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund enabled a British team of researchers to lead the world in starting the first clinical trial for the blinding disease.The trial is being led by Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford, and builds on gene therapy research performed in collaboration with Professor Miguel Seabra. Professor MacLaren said “This clinical trial marks a major step in developing gene therapy treatments for photoreceptor diseases. It would not have been possible however without the scientific funding provided by Fight for Sight through the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund over the last five years. In my opinion, this is the single most significant factor that has enabled our British team of researchers to lead the world in starting the first clinical trial for this disease. We should not under-estimate the power that individuals can have in influencing the course of research through their fundraising activities."
January 2012 got off to a flying start, with press coverage for Emma and Tommy featuring in the Sun, as well as appearing on Channel Five News and ITV's Daybreak.
For more information about the Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund and to find out about future fundraising events email Emma or Dot: tommysalisburyfund@gmail.com.
The Tommy Salisbury Choroideremia Fund is raising money for research in choroideremia.
