Reggeborgh supports Usher syndrome foundation and Radboud University Medical Center for Usher syndrome research
Can you imagine being not only deaf or hard of hearing, but also night-blind and gradually losing your eyesight altogether? This happens in patients with Usher syndrome.
There are some 1,000 patients living with this syndrome in the Netherlands. Usher syndrome is an inherited disease that sees children go both deaf and blind over the course of their lives. There are about 400,000 patients worldwide. To date, there is no treatment for this condition.
Radboud University Medical Center is the centre of expertise for Usher syndrome. Dr Erwin van Wijk and Dr Erik de Vrieze want to try to treat the disease through gene therapy. Hereditary diseases, such as Usher syndrome, result from a fault in one or more genes. With gene therapy, you introduce DNA without the pathogenic error in the genes into the patient. As a result, symptoms of a disease may diminish or even stop.
The research process is expected to take about four years. During this period, the Reggeborgh Foundation will financially support the project.
Inge Wessels: ‘In a regional daily, I read the story of a young man talking about his life with Usher syndrome. I’m deaf myself and know what being deaf means in everyday life. If you then also lose your eyesight because of Usher syndrome, that just seems terrible to me. Therefore, we support this research and are very eager to see the results.’
Want to know more about Usher Syndrome?
Check out the foundation's website.