EMORY EYE CENTER RECEIVES $100,000 GRANT FROM RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS


The Emory Eye Center has received a grant of $100,000 from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) to support scientific investigations into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases.

RPB is the world's leading philanthropic organization supporting eye research. The organization has awarded Emory a total of $1,757,600 in grants. Since 1960, RPB has channeled more than $157 million to medical institutions throughout the country.

"This grant will help us continue our ongoing research until we can obtain further federal or private funding," said Thomas Aaberg, M.D., professor and chairman, Department of Ophthalmology at Emory University School of Medicine, and director, Emory Eye Center. "RPB grants also help us purchase new research instruments needed for our investigations. RPB grants take over where other grants leave off."

According to Henry Edelhauser, Ph.D., director of ophthalmic research at the Eye Center, "RPB grants also serve an important need in eye research by funding pilot studies. There are not many sources in our department and in the United States for pilot studies, which are necessary to obtain the data we need to apply for major research grants."

The Emory Eye Center is one of the top 10 institutions in the nation for the number of research grants and a leading center for clinical trials. Among some of the more important work conducted at Emory are research into the causes, diagnosis and prevention of glaucoma, cataracts and corneal and retinal disease, as well as genetic studies on children's inherited eye disease.