Barcelona’s Mayor visits the Barcelona Macula Foundation

Xavier Tries, the Mayor of Barcelona, paid a visit this morning to the facilities of the Barcelona Macula Foundation, the scientific centre which stands in the vanguard of the research which devotes its resources to the diseases causing blindness.

Mayor Trías was shown around the Barcelona Macula Foundation’s facilities in the company of Dr. Jordi Monés, the Foundation’s medical director, together with a group of its Board of Trustees. Dr. Monés took the opportunity during the visit to explain its principal current projects, which are focussed exclusively on the search for treatments of the medical and surgical pathology of the macula, retina and vitreous.

Barcelona, at the forefront of research
The Barcelona Macula Foundation, which is focussed exclusively on the search for treatments of the medical and surgical pathology of the macula, retina and vitreous, concentrates its work on research in the fight against blindness.The Foundation aims to discover effective techniques to combat untreated eye diseases such as the atrophic variant of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), pigmentary retinosis or Stargardt’s Disease.

Among its other work areas, the Foundation’s scientific team has been able to test new drugs in the initial phases of clinical development and works in collaboration with other research centres to develop research using cutting-edge techniques.

Dr. Monés said "the application of replacement techniques such as the use of foetal tissue or embryonic stem cells is a way forward in the field of ophthalmological research which may open new possibilities for those who suffer degenerative visual diseases ". Accordingly, Dr. Monés also stressed "the importance of public-private collaboration to raise the necessary resources to move the scientific projects forward ".