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March 21, 2003


 



Emory Eye Center Recipient of Knights Templar Awards



ATLANTA -- The Emory Eye Center was recently awarded $39,000 by the Georgia Knights Templar Educational Foundation, Inc. The awards will be used to continue important educational and research opportunities that impact the entire state of Georgia. Over the past several years, the Georgia Knights Templar have awarded some $351,000 to the Emory Eye Center.



Included in the 2003 awards are the following:
  • $20,000 to underwrite the research proposal of Anastosios Costarides, MD, PhD: "The Effect of Glaucoma Medications on the Aqueous Humor of Glaucoma Patients." Interested in oxidative damage to intraocular tissues, Dr. Costarides has recently found that glaucoma medications may alter the constituents of aqueous humor, and that there may be a distinct link between cataract development and topical glaucoma that lowers intraocular pressure. He will collaborate with Emory ophthalmologist Allen Beck and ophthalmic physiologist/toxicologist Henry Edelhauser on the study.
  • $3,000 for the Georgia Knights Templar Lecture in Pediatric Ophthalmology, which will be presented by M. Edward Wilson, Jr., MD, Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology, Storm Eye Institute/Medical College of South Carolina.
  • $3,000 for the Emory Eye Center's Learning Resource Center to continue to provide services and resource information to Georgia ophthalmologists through the Emory Eye Center website.
  • for the continuation of Molecular Vision, the online journal for physicians and research scientists. Emory Eye Center researchers serve as pro-bono editors for this journal, which has gained international respect since it began.
  • $5,000 to complete the "Infant Aphakia Treatment Study" conducted by Pediatric Ophthalmologist Scott Lambert. This continues the study begun last year and will determine whether it is better to optically correct an infant with unilateral aphakia (natural lenses removed, usually due to cataract) with a contact lens or intraocular lenses.
  • $5,000 for partial funding of a pediatric fellowship for one year.


"We are especially grateful to the the Georgia Knights Templar Educational Foundation for providing these important funds in this year of dwindling resources across the country," says Thomas M. Aaberg, MD, Director of Emory Eye Center and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology. "These awards willenable the Emory Eye Center to continue the research and outreach programs that are crucial to the patients we serve."



 


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