RPB Grants Surpass $9 Million In 2006

New York, NY, January 30, 2007 -- Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the world's leading voluntary health organization supporting eye research, awarded 90 grants totaling $9.12 million in 2006 for research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of all blinding diseases.

Departments of ophthalmology at 55 medical schools throughout the United States currently receive RPB research grants; a total of 176 individual ophthalmic scientists received RPB grant support in 2006.

Across the nation, RPB-supported researchers pursue basic and clinical investigations into the entire spectrum of eye disease.  In 2006, vision research developments reported from previously funded RPB projects included: the restoration of sight signaling in mice through the transplantation of stem cells; the development of a side-effect-free treatment for the eye cancer retinoblastoma  (the first such targeted chemotherapy drug for any childhood cancer and one with the potential for fighting certain forms of breast, lung, prostate and colon cancer); and the biological mechanism by which the cornea remains clear and free of blood vessels—a long-standing mystery and a finding that may help prevent the proliferation of blood vessels in some blinding eye disorders and cancers.

"RPB's mission is broad in terms of the spectrum of eye disease, but our strategy has always been targeted at those researchers and research communities most likely to yield crucial insights and treatments," says Diane Swift, President. "We expect that the latest round of RPB grants will bring us closer to our goal: the eradication of vision loss to diseases of the eye."

RPB grants are available to scientists at every stage of their careers, including RPB's top award, the Jules and Doris Stein RPB Professorship, which provides $500,000 over five years and up to $150,000 in a matching grant for laboratory construction.  An additional $200,000 may be awarded during a two-year extension of the award.

Contact:    Matthew Levine
                 (212) 752-4333; 1-800-621-0026
                 E-mail: mlevine@rpbusa.org

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About Research to Prevent Blindness

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $248 million to medical institutions throughout the United States.  As a result, RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough in eye research in that time, including the development of laser surgeries and the anti-VEGF treatments now entering use to curtail retinal degenerative diseases.  RPB's comprehensive grants program operates with economy and efficiency. Historically, 81% of RPB expenditures have gone directly for eye research. 

Research to Prevent Blindness awarded Unrestricted and Challenge Grants in 2006 to the following schools to support eye research within departments of ophthalmology (does not include schools already receiving Unrestricted and Challenge Grants).

ALABAMA

 University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine         

ARIZONA

 University of Arizona College of Medicine

CALIFORNIA

 University of California, Davis, School of Medicine

 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

 University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine

 University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

 Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

CONNECTICUT

 Yale University School of Medicine

FLORIDA

 University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

GEORGIA

 Emory University School of Medicine                                 

ILLINOIS

 Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine                                           

INDIANA

 Indiana University School of Medicine

IOWA

 The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

KENTUCKY

 University of Louisville School of Medicine   

MARYLAND

 The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine                              

 University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Medicine

MASSACHUSETTS

 Harvard Medical School

 Tufts University School of Medicine

MICHIGAN

 University of Michigan School of Medicine                            

  Wayne State University School of Medicine

MINNESOTA

  Mayo Medical School                                                     

  University of Minnesota, Academic Health Center, Medical School  

MISSOURI

  University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine

  Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine

   Saint Louis University School of Medicine

NEBRASKA

  University of Nebraska Medical Center

 NEW JERSEY

  University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School

NEW YORK

 Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons                     

 Weill Medical College of Cornell University                                                  

 University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry                                       

 State University of New York Upstate Medical University

NORTH CAROLINA

 Duke University School of Medicine

OHIO

  Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

  Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

  University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

OKLAHOMA

 University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center                    

OREGON

 Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine                           

PENNSYLVANIA

 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

 University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

SOUTH CAROLINA

 Medical University of South Carolina

TENNESSEE

 University of Tennessee Health Science Center

TEXAS

 Baylor College of Medicine                                         

 The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

 The University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio                             

 The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas           

UTAH

 University of Utah Health Sciences Center                          

WISCONSIN

  Medical College of Wisconsin       

  University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine

  Individual Grants Awarded by RPB in 2006

RPB ‑ JULES AND DORIS STEIN PROFESSORSHIP EXTENSION:

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

   for Gabriel H. Travis, M.D.

RPB ‑ CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS     

The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

   for John H. Fingert, M.D., Ph.D.

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

   for Peter J. Francis, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Utah Health Sciences Center

   for Bryan Jones, Ph.D.

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry

  for Richard T. Libby, Ph.D.

University of Kentucky College of Medicine

  for Brian J. Raisler, Ph.D.

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

  for Kenneth S. Shindler, M.D., Ph.D.

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

  for Erik Ullian, Ph.D.

RPB - SPECIAL SCHOLARS GRANTS

Dolly Green Scholar Award

  Yale University School of Medicine

  for Ning Tian, M.D., Ph.D.     

William and Mary Greve Scholar Award

  University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

  for Joshua L. Dunaief, M.D., Ph.D.

James S. Adams Scholar Award

  University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

  for Erich C. Strauss, M.D.

Robert E. McCormick Scholar Award

  University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine

  for David M. Gamm, M.D., Ph.D.

Olga Keith Wiess Scholar Award

  University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine

  for Lbachir BenMohamed, Ph.D.

Sybil B. Harrington Scholar Award

  Harvard Medical School                  

  for Dong Feng Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

Sybil B. Harrington Scholar Award

  Duke University School of Medicine

  for Pratap Challa, M.D.

RPB - WALT AND LILLY DISNEY SPECIAL SCHOLARS AWARDS

     FOR AMBLYOPIA RESEARCH

The John Hopkins University School of Medicine

  for David L. Guyton, M.D.

Harvard Medical School

  for David G. Hunter, M.D., Ph.D.

RPB - SENIOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATORS            

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine

  for Curtis R. Brandt, Ph.D.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  for Peter A. Campochiaro, M.D.

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

  for John W. Crabb, Ph.D.

Saint Louis University School of Medicine

  for Steven J. Fliesler, Ph.D.

Emory University School of Medicine

  for Hans E. Grossniklaus, M.D.

Medical College of Wisconsin

  for Jay Neitz, Ph.D.

RPB - LEW R. WASSERMAN MERIT AWARDS                 

University of Kentucky College of Medicine

  for Jayakrishna Ambati, M.D.

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

  for Michelle C. Callegan, Ph.D.

Duke University School of Medicine

  for P. Vasantha Rao, Ph.D.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  for Richard D. Semba, M.D., M.P.H.

University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine

  for David W. Sretavan, M.D., Ph.D.

Harvard Medical School

  for Janey L. Wiggs, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Utah Health Sciences Center

  for Kang Zhang, M.D., Ph.D.

RPB - PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST AWARDS

University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine

  for William R. Freeman, M.D.

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine

  for Ronald Klein, M.D., M.P.H.

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

  for Russell W. Read, M.D.

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

  for Steven E. Wilson, M.D.

RPB RESEARCH SABBATICAL GRANT

University of Nebraska Medical Center

  for Wallace B. Thoreson, Ph.D.

RPB - MEDICAL STUDENT EYE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

University of Kentucky College of Medicine

  for Romulo J.C. Albuquerque

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

  for Bishir Al-Dabagh

Tufts University School of Medicine

  for Royce Chen

Duke University School of Medicine

  for Emily Davies

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

  for Sherrie J. DiVito

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry

  for Yasser M. Elshatory

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October 11, 2007