The Wayne State University School of Medicine will once again receive a $115,000 unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness to support eye research conducted by the Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences.
The funding is based on a review of criteria, including the department’s research activities, laboratory environment, and clinical and scientific staff, evaluated by RPB’s renowned Scientific Advisory Panel.
The funds will be deployed at the discretion of the department chair to provide maximum flexibility in developing and expanding eye research programs, and to provide opportunities for creative planning that go beyond the scope of restricted project grants.
“This is a highly competitive grant, with only 30 funded in the United States, and thus we appreciate the confidence Research to Prevent Blindness continues to have in us," said the department’s Professor and Chair Mark Juzych, M.D. “Continued funding from RPB to the Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences, and the Kresge Eye Institute, allows us to not only pursue our research mission, but to help those afflicted by eye disease and support the next generation of eye researchers.”
The WSU School of Medicine holds one of 30 RPB unrestricted grants nationwide.
“Continued funding from Research to Prevent Blindness gives us support to explore pilot projects and to use the data generated to enhance our National Institutes of Health R01 funding. We are most appreciative of the support from RPB,” said School of Medicine vice dean for Research and Graduate Programs Linda Hazlett, Ph.D., the Robert S. Jampel, M.D., Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and distinguished professor and vice chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences.
Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $403 million into eye research. As a result, RPB has been identified with nearly every major breakthrough in vision research in that time. For information on RPB’s grants program, listings of RPB institutional and individual grantees, and findings generated by these awards, go to www.rpbusa.org.