• General Invitation Letter [<<]

Dear Colleagues,

There is a growing recognition that there is a real need to provide a forum and mechanism to coordinate and support ophthalmic research efforts across Europe. This reflects the importance of raising the profile of ophthalmic research by lobbying and the need to develop a co-ordinated strategy for obtaining and managing funding from framework initiatives. The new regulations regarding clinical trials add another pressure and it is crucial that we develop ways of responding to this so that we can run pan European initiatives.

To this end we have taken the preliminary steps necessary to create a European Vision Institute (EVI) and ensured that it is legally constituted as an European company (EEIG). We now seek to establish the membership of the EVIEEIG and with your help move this body forward to meet the pressing need for such a body to support European ophthalmic research.

The membership of the EVI EEIG is open to established researchers, team leaders, institutions and companies in the ophthalmic and vision research community. Its purpose is not to make profits or to centralise all efforts but to carry out activities ancillary to those of its members, concerning organisation, management, fund raising, clinical trials and technological development on a cross-border scale. The EVI EEIG is not in competition with national activities.

The EVI EEIG will also lobby in Brussels for more support for clinical ophthalmic research and vision research and help assemble strong internationally recognised groups for these tasks. Such efforts are essential if we are to gain the funding necessary to meet the growing challenge of blinding eye diseases both within Europe and globally over the coming decade. The EVI EEIG will help drive the co-ordinated effort necessary to achieve these aims and provide a new dimension of resource to support the cause of ophthalmic research.

The major objectives of the EVI EEIG are to support research and training and the dissemination of knowledge with respect to the prevention and treatment of blinding eye diseases, visual disorders, mechanisms of visual function, visual rehabilitation and the assessment of need in our society.

We wish to invite you to join the founding members and help establish and lead the EVI EEIG forwards to fulfil its role in protecting, developing and driving European ophthalmic research in the 21st century.


Sincerely yours


Prof. Dr. Jose CUNHA-VAZ
Prof. Dr. Jose SAHEL
Prof. Dr. Adam SILLITO
Dr. Thomas H. WHEELER-SCHILLING
Prof. Dr. Eberhart ZRENNER