The Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) announced the largest annual research budget in its history—$2.5 million—that will support glaucoma and vision restoration research.
Give me the rundown on GRF.
The San Francisco, California-based GRF was founded in 1978 as a national non-profit organization focused on seeking a cure and solutions for preventing glaucoma, slowing its progression, and potentially restoring related vision loss.
How, exactly?
The nonprofit funds glaucoma research, invests in high risk/high reward research projects for maximum impact, and provides high quality materials and educational resources for the eyecare community and patients. See here for more details on GRF’s purpose.
And for a look at the organization’s annual financials, click here or click here to download its 2023 financial report.
Now explain where this money is going.
Per the organization, the grants were awarded to a total of 18 investigators located at major universities in the United States, Nigeria, and Hong Kong.
Let’s talk specifics.
Included among these grant recipients are two research initiatives within GRF’s flagship research program Catalyst for a Cure, which involves neuroscientists and glaucoma specialists studying glaucoma to identify better treatments and accelerate the path to vision restoration / a cure.
These initiatives include:
- Catalyst for a Cure Vision Restoration
- Initiated in 2022 with funding through 2027
- Goals: preserve and repair the optic nerve, independent of eye pressure; rebuild the optic nerve where damage has led to vision loss.
- Catalyst for a Cure Initiative to Prevent and Cure Neurodegeneration
- Initiated in 2022 with funding through 2025
- Goal: Identify potential preventative measures and cures for all neurodegenerative illnesses based on studying glaucoma/similar conditions.
And how much is being awarded?
Within each initiative, four principal investigators (listed below) will receive:
- Catalyst for a Cure Restoration
- Investigators:
- Xin Duan, PhD (University of California, San Francisco)
- Yang Hu, MD, PhD (Stanford University School of Medicine)
- Anna La Torre, PhD (University of California, Davis)
- Derek Welsbie, MD, PhD (Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego)
- $1 million awarded
- $250,000 to each laboratory
- Investigators:
- Catalyst for a Cure Initiative to Prevent and Cure Neurodegeneration
- Investigators
- Sandro Da Mesquita, PhD (Mayo Clinic)
- Milica Margeta, MD, PhD (Mass Eye and Ear)
- Karthik Shekar, PhD (University of California, Berkeley)
- Humsa Venkatesh, PhD (Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital)
- $800,000 awarded
- $200,000 to each laboratory
- Investigators
Any other awardees?
Yes! This includes the greatest number of Shaffer Research Grants ever funded in a single year, according to GRF President and CEO Thomas M. Bunner. Note: Launched by GRF co-founder Robert N. Shaffer, MD, FACS, the Shaffer Grants program is known as “an innovation incubator, attracting much-needed brainpower to glaucoma research and carrying us closer to a cure.”
How much is each grant?
Each 1-year grant provides $55,000 in seed money to be used for collaborative projects targeting one or more of GRF’s strategic goals.
And this year’s recipients?
They include:
- Revathi Balasubramanian, PhD (Columbia University Irving Medical Center)
- Project: Endothelin Signaling in Trabecular Meshwork and Schlemm’s Canal Development
- Kevin Chan, PhD (New York University Grossman School of Medicine)
- Project: Role of Insulin Resistance and Aquaporin-4 in Glaucoma
- Bryce Chiang, MD, PhD (Stanford University)
- Project: Targeted Optic Nerve Head Drug Delivery
- Cátia Gomes, PhD (Indiana University School of Medicine)
- Project: Studying the Contribution of Aging to Retinal Ganglion Cell Degeneration Relevant to Glaucoma
- Meredith Gregory-Ksander, PhD (Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School)
- Project: Restoring Microglia Homeostasis as a Treatment for Glaucoma
- Takaaki Kuwajima, PhD (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)
- Project: Development of Immune Cell-mediated Optic Nerve Regeneration Therapy
- Margaret MacNeil, PhD (York College, CUNY)
- Project: Protecting the Optic Nerve with Mitochondrial Directed Peptides
- Felipe Medeiros, MD, PhD (Bascom Palmer Eye Institute)
- Project: Race, Polygenic Risk Scores, and Glaucoma Progression
- Olusola Olawoye, MD, PhD (University of Ibadan)
- Project: Genetic characterization of Juvenile Glaucoma in Africa
- Samantha Sze Wan Shan, PhD (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)
- Project: MiR-17-92 Members in IOP Regulation