The Fondation pour Recherches Médicales (FRM) recently had the great pleasure of welcoming two excellence scholars from Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi, Pakistan: Tehseen Fatima Zeb and Salman Ahmed Khan.
Their visit marks an important milestone in the development of a long-term international collaboration between DUHS and the Foundation, focused on advancing gene therapy research for inherited retinal diseases.
With the support of the Experimental Ophthalmology Lab, led by Dr Martina Kropp, and the Cell & Gene Therapy team (Fabien Abdul, Maude Rolland, Pascale Ribaux and Prof. Karl Krause), Tehseen and Salman successfully initiated joint scientific work that lays the foundation for sustained collaboration between our institutions.
This partnership addresses a major public health challenge in Pakistan, where inherited retinal diseases are highly prevalent and remain a leading cause of vision loss and blindness. By combining complementary expertise in ophthalmology, molecular biology and translational gene therapy, the collaboration aims to accelerate the development of innovative therapeutic approaches adapted to real clinical needs.
Beyond the scientific advances, this initiative reflects FRM’s strong commitment to global health and knowledge exchange, fostering international research partnerships that contribute to equitable access to innovation.
We warmly thank Tehseen Fatima Zeb and Salman Ahmed Khan for their scientific engagement and valuable contributions, and we look forward to building a strong, durable and impactful collaboration with Dow University of Health Sciences in the years ahead.
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