The Foundation Voir et Entendre was created in May 2007 by two internationally renowned experts, Pr Christine Petit and Pr José-Alain Sahel.

"Voir et Entendre"'s challenges are to defy sensory handicaps linked to vision and hearing, both of which have become public health stakes. As we can see throughout industrialized countries ocular and auditory diseases are gaining ground, mainly due to the ageing populations.

The Foundation therefore brings together the best-known French and international scientific teams, hospital services and industries around common research themes, with the aim to rapidly find new and adapted treatments.

Within the Foundation are the department of neuroscience of the Pasteur Institute, managed by Christine Petit and the Vision Institute, managed by José-Alain Sahel, the Clinical Investigation Centre of the National Ophthalmologic Hospital Centre (CHNO) of the Quinze-Vingts, three reference centres for rare diseases and four clinical hospital departments.

The head office is located at the Vision Institute, itself within the CHNO of the Quinze-Vingts in Paris. The latter has supported this project from the outset along with the Pasteur Institute, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Pierre and Marie Curie University and the French Federation of the Blind and Visually Impaired.