Doctor Serge Picaud

Serge PICAUD is the Director of the Paris Vision Institute (France), a leading centre in vision research and ophthalmology. The Institute has generated different pharmacological treatments, gene therapies, cell therapy and prosthetic devices for preserving and restoring vision. These clinical developments were implemented through the creation of more than 10 start-ups. Serge Picaud has defined toxic wavelengths reaching the retinal tissue for the solar spectrum. In the recent years, Serge Picaud contributed to the strategies for restoring vision at the retinal level by prostheses (e.g. photovoltaic) and optogenetic therapy, which represented the world premiere for this later strategy. Optogenetic therapy relies on the expression of a microbial opsin via gene therapy to sensitize human retinal neurons to light. Recently, he provided the preclinical proof of concept for restoring vision directly at the cortical level by sonogenetic therapy.