Hello. My name is Cate Elam, and this is the story of how

RPHope began. It was the summer after my sophomore year of high

school, on a trans-national cycling tour from Amsterdam to Rome, when

I first noticed the symptoms. The journey took 28 days, exceeded 1,500 miles, and created one of the greatest adventures of my life. Under the burning sun, during those long stretches of road, little black splotches dotted my vision. I wrote it off as dehydration or exhaustion, but the spots persisted even after the bike tour ended. I went to ophthalmologist expecting a quick check-up and some eyedrops, and instead was diagnosed with a genetic disease. Like many patients, it was a common fact that I had less than adequate vision, but the issue was never more than severe astigmatism. When the doctor diagnosed me with RP, it felt like she had diagnosed an insignificant scratch as sign for amputation. And on top of that, this genetic disease was virtually unheard of by most of the general public. Was I suppose to be scared? What did this mean for my future? The lack of information was more troubling than the predicted side effects. This feeling of confusion sparked the decision to start RP Hope, a place were the general public could turn to if they wanted to understand and support the scientists working to advance technology and treatments for RP.