Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), the world’s leading voluntary health organization supporting eye research, awarded 80 new grants totaling $8,137,000 million in 2003 for research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of all blinding diseases.

The RPB awards included research grants to departments of ophthalmology at 44 medical schools throughout the United States. With the addition of the new individual awards, such as the Lew R. Wasserman Merit Award, Medical Student Eye Research Fellowships, Senior Scientific Investigator, Physician-Scientist and Career Development Awards, a total of 192 individual ophthalmic scientists conducted research with RPB funds in 2003.

In the same period of time, 883 scientific papers published in 198 professional journals acknowledged RPB for grant support. The organization has posted a complete bibliography of those papers on its web site, www.rpbusa.org, along with its 2003 Annual Report containing highlights of those findings and descriptions of the new 2003 grants.

\"It is gratifying to find that RPB’s strategy is yielding such an abundance of critical information, especially since recent studies indicate that the prevalence of eye disease is on the rise,\" said Diane S. Swift, President of Research to Prevent Blindness.

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $220 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 surgery now used to treat diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, myopia, retinal detachment and astigmatism.*

Recent developments reported in the media that were supported by grants from RPB include: the results of a study showing that the use of daily pressure-lowering eye drops can delay or possibly prevent the onset of glaucoma in African Americans at higher risk for developing the disease; the results of a study indicating that long hours spent in the sun increase the risk of blindness later in life due to age-related maculopathy; the preliminary finding that therapy with statins (lipid-lowering medications) or aspirin is associated with decreased rates of abnormal blood vessel formation in patients with age-related macular degeneration; and discoveries about the transfer of nutrients to the eye’s lens that could lead to therapies for cataract, the world’s leading cause of blindness.

In 2003, additional RPB grants were approved for research into: how circuits in the retina create vision and the mechanism behind changes in vision sensitivity; the influence of specific genes on various forms of uveitis (inflammation of certain eye structures); protecting eye nerve cells from stress-induced death; new means to prevent virus-induced blindness; the effect of low blood sugar levels on human visual sensitivity and, potentially, macular pathologies such as macular degeneration; developing a test to predict early-stage glaucoma before the onset of irreversible loss of the visual field; restoring the capacity for visual signaling in the diseased retina; developing markers for pre-symptomatic diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy; reanimating paralyzed eye muscles; further uncovering the genetic basis of myopia (nearsightedness); and more.

Among the vision scientists fighting eye diseases are 13 active Jules and Doris Stein RPB Professors who receive $375,000 each over five years (and up to $100,000 in a matching grant for laboratory construction), and 46 RPB Career Development Awardees who receive $200,000 over four years.

RPB’s comprehensive grants program operates with economy and efficiency. Historically, 81% of RPB expenditures have gone directly for eye research. The organization’s fund-raising cost ratio has been 2% for more than four decades of service, and its professional staff of ten is among the smallest of all major organizations in the voluntary health field.

*To obtain free information about these or other eye diseases, contact RPB.

Research to Prevent Blindness
645 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10022-1010
212-752-4333 or 1-800-621-0026
FAX: 212-688-6231
Web site: www.rpbusa.org
e-mail: inforequest@rpbusa.org

2003 Research to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted and Challenge Grants to support eye research within departments of ophthalmology went to:

ALABAMA
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine

ARKANSAS
University of Arkansas College of Medicine

CALIFORNIA
University of California, Davis School of Medicine
University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

CONNECTICUT
Yale University School of Medicine

FLORIDA
University of Florida College of Medicine
University of Miami School of Medicine

GEORGIA
Emory University School of Medicine

ILLINOIS
Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern University
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

INDIANA
Indiana University School of Medicine

IOWA
University of Iowa College of Medicine

KENTUCKY
University of Louisville School of Medicine

MARYLAND
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine

MICHIGAN
University of Michigan School of Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine

MINNESOTA
Mayo Medical School

MISSOURI
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

NEW JERSEY
University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey

NEW YORK
Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York University School of Medicine
State University of New York Upstate Medical University

NORTH CAROLINA
Duke University School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

OHIO
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

OKLAHOMA
University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

OREGON
Oregon Health & Science University

PENNSYLVANIA
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

SOUTH CAROLINA
Medical University of South Carolina

TENNESSEE
University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center

TEXAS
Baylor College of Medicine
University of Texas Health Sciences Center at San Antonio
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas

UTAH
University of Utah Health Sciences Center

WASHINGTON
University of Washington School of Medicine (Seattle)

WISCONSIN
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Individual Grants Awarded by RPB in 2003

RPB - CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS
Duke University School of Medicine
for Natalie A. Afshari, M.D.

University of Michigan School of Medicine
for Jonathan B. Demb, Ph.D.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
for Peter L. Gehlbach, M.D., Ph.D.

University of Arizona College of Medicine
for Lihua Marmorstein, Ph.D.

Oregon Health & Science University
for Tammy M. Martin, Ph.D.

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
for Raju V.S. Rajala, Ph.D.

University of Miami School of Medicine
for Valery I. Shestopalov, Ph.D.

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
for Deepak Shukla, Ph.D.

State University of New York, Upstate Medical University
for Michael E. Zuber, Ph.D.

RPB - SPECIAL SCHOLARS GRANTS

Dolly Green Scholar Award
University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine
for Xian-Je Yang, Ph.D.

William and Mary Greve Scholar Award
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
for Oleg Kisselev, Ph.D.

James S. Adams Scholar Award
University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine
for Clyde Guidry, Ph.D.

Robert E. McCormick Scholar Award
University of Louisville School of Medicine
for Marcia M. Jumblatt, Ph.D.

Olga Keith Wiess Scholar Award
University of Utah Health Sciences Center
for Liliana Werner, M.D., Ph.D.

Sybil B. Harrington Scholar Award
Washington University School of Medicine
for Shiming Chen, Ph.D.

Sybil B. Harrington Scholar Award
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
for Rohit Varma, M.D., M.P.H.

RPB - WALT AND LILLY DISNEY SPECIAL SCHOLARS AWARDS FOR AMBLYOPIA RESEARCH

University of Maryland School of Medicine
for Mary A. Johnson, Ph.D.

University of Iowa College of Medicine
for Ronald V. Keech, M.D.

RPB - SENIOR SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATORS

State University of New York, Upstate Medical University
for Robert B. Barlow, Ph.D.

University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine
for Ramon F. Dacheux, II, Ph.D.

University of Utah Health Sciences Center
for Robert E. Marc, Ph.D.

University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
for David R. Pepperberg, Ph.D.

University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
for Joel M. Pokorny, Ph.D.

University of Michigan School of Medicine
for Anand Swaroop, Ph.D.

RPB - LEW R. WASSERMAN MERIT AWARDS

University of Rochester School of Medicine
for David J. Calkins, Ph.D.

University of Miami School of Medicine
for Scott W. Cousins, M.D.

University of Michigan School of Medicine
for Bret A. Hughes, Ph.D.

Washington University School of Medicine
for David A. Leib, Ph.D.

Duke University School of Medicine
for Dennis W. Rickman, Ph.D.

RPB - PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST AWARDS

University of Florida College of Medicine
for John R. Guy, M.D.

University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
for Arthur L. Rosenbaum, M.D.

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
for Terri L. Young, M.D.

RPB - MEDICAL STUDENT EYE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

University of California, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
for A. Brock Roller

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
for Thurzar M. Shin

Duke University Medical Center
for Wei Wang

RPB - INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SCHOLAR AWARDS

Emory University School of Medicine
for Lennart Berglin, M.D., Ph.D.

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