by Jessica Pasley
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) recently awarded a grant to investigators in Vanderbilt’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases.
The department received an RPB Unrestricted Grant, which provides $115,000 per year to support research activities within the department. It will be allocated by Paul Sternberg Jr., MD, George W. Hale Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and chair of the department.
“We are honored to be one of the departments of ophthalmology selected to receive unrestricted support from Research to Prevent Blindness,” said Sternberg.
“This grant recognizes us as one of the premier vision research programs in the nation. The unrestricted funds provide an extraordinary opportunity to underwrite many of the key aspects of our research enterprise that support our investigators and their discovery initiatives.”
The department’s long-standing relationship with RPB has been integral in research endeavors, said Sternberg.
The funding will support a mixture of research and educational activities at VEI and further future discoveries in the field of ophthalmic research.
This will also support the biostatisticians who work with VEI faculty and residents, offset the costs of upgrading shared research capital equipment, cover service contracts for shared equipment and sponsor educational events for scientists and clinician-scientists.
