Tistou and Charlotte
Kerstan Foundation
Vision 2000
Vision - Art - Sensory Systems
Developing solutions for incurable retinal diseases
Many of the retinal diseases, especially age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and hereditary forms or retinal diseases are still incurable and affect over 1 million people in Germany alone.
The Kerstan Foundation aims to promote vision research at the University of Tübingen Centre for Ophthalmology in an interdisciplinary approach together with partners worldwide.
What the Foundation accomplished since its inception |
1993 - 1999 |
Established the "Low Vision Center" in Tübingen |
Funded research on neuroprotection |
Supported young doctors studying genetics and hereditary diseases |
2000 - 2008 |
Supported a special clinic for vision disorders of unclear origin |
Funded research on maintaining optic nerve function |
Supported Orthoptics at the Low Vision Center, as well as RP clinics |
Provided initial funding for the subretinal chip project |
Supported the elaboration of a masterplan for Neuroprotective Therapies |
Funded a Senior Researcher in Residence for hereditary retinal degeneration |
Supported experimental therapies |
Helped establish a digitized patient database for clinical research purposes |
Supported a clinical trial centre for eye diseases |
Recent Projects and Work in Progress |
2008 - 2012: 350,000 € |
Supporting new neuropharmacological therapeutic approaches |
Further development at the Low Vision Center of the University of the University Eye Hospital Tübingen |
2010 - 2019: 4,200,000 € |
Founding an endowed professorship for molecular mechanisms of hereditary retinal diseases at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research, University of Tübingen (Prof. M. Ueffing) |
Since 2012: 6,600,000 € |
Development of new therapies for retinal degenerative diseases including gene therapy: RD-Cure |
Development of new diagnostic tools for early detection of retinal diseases |
Establishing links to the network for rare diseases |
Since 2019: 850,000 € |
Development of new concepts for retinal prosthetics |
Therapeutic developments on rhodopsin mutations |