The mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness is to fund research that will lead to the prevention, treatment and cures for the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease and related conditions. These diseases, which affect more than 10 million Americans and millions more throughout the world, often lead to severe vision loss or complete blindness. The Foundation Fighting Blindness was founded as the National Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation in 1971 by Gordon and Lulie Gund, Bernard and Beverly Berman, and other dedicated leaders to find cures for retinal degenerations at a time when very little was known about those vision-robbing diseases. Blind from retinitis pigmentosa, Gund is Chairman of the Foundation Fighting Blindness and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Gund Investment Corporation. He is a former majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers (National Basketball Association) and was co-founder and part owner of the San Jose Sharks (National Hockey League). Berman died in 1996. Through private individual contributions, corporate philanthropy and community-based fundraising activities, the Foundation has raised more than $500 million since its founding and is the largest non-governmental source of research funds for inherited retinal degenerative diseases. Diseases studied Foundation-funded scientists at institutions throughout the world conduct research for the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases including: retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, Stargardt disease, Best disease, choroideremia, retinoschisis, Leber congenital amaurosis, Bardet–Biedl syndrome, cone dystrophy, cone-rod dystrophy, rod–cone dystrophy, achromatopsia, Refsum disease, and other rare retinal degenerative diseases. Research and clinical trials The Foundation funds research in a number of scientific areas including: genetics, gene therapy, nutrition, stem cells, and pharmaceutical therapies. After decades of Foundation-funded research, several promising treatments have moved into human clinical trials, including a landmark gene therapy human study for Leber congenital amaurosis, which has enabled more than 40 children and young adults who were virtually blind to read several lines on an eye chart and see in dimly lit settings. This success paved the way for the development of gene therapies now in clinical trials to treat a wide range of other retinal conditions, including Stargardt disease, Usher syndrome, and age-related macular degeneration. Valproic acid, a drug that is FDA-approved to treat epilepsy, has shown promise for preserving vision in people with certain forms of retinitis pigmentosa. The Foundation has launched a human trial to test this drug and, if effective, move it quickly