BrightFocus Foundation Announces $10M in New Funding Across Brain and Vision Research, Celebrates Historic Diversity of Grant Award Recipients
25 Abril 2024 - 5:00AM
Business Wire
With over two-thirds (67%) of new grants awarded to women,
BrightFocus Foundation is a preeminent funder of female scientists
across eye and brain research.
Global nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation announces $10 million in
new Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma
research grant funding—age-related diseases with no cure that
affect more than 335 million people worldwide.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240425105987/en/
Early funding from BrightFocus Foundation
has catalyzed thousands of life-enhancing scientific breakthroughs,
including the first commercially available blood test in the U.S.
to identify early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and the first-ever
reversal of age-related vision loss from glaucoma using gene
therapy. Pictured is BrightFocus Macular Degeneration Research
grant recipient Yara Lechanteur, MD, PhD. (Photo: Business
Wire)
This year’s new BrightFocus grant recipients, 42 in total, are
the most diverse in the charity’s 50-year history:
- Women comprise 67% of new grant recipients, more than double
the global percentage of female researchers*, and the largest group
of women funded to date by BrightFocus.
- 57% of new grant recipients identify as a member of a non-white
racial or ethnic group.
BrightFocus currently has 157 active neuroscience research
projects, a $43 million investment, and 119 active vision research
projects, a $30 million investment.
Guided by scientific advisory committees of leading researchers
in the field, the research funded by BrightFocus fosters a better
understanding of the root causes of disease onset, improves early
disease detection and diagnosis, and helps develop effective
treatments and new drugs.
BrightFocus funds international eye and brain research and
provides free expert health information to the public; the
organization has awarded grants in 25 countries across more than
6,000 scientists, an investment of nearly $300 million.
Women and minority populations are disproportionately affected
by Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, macular degeneration,
and glaucoma, yet they are widely underrepresented in the field of
scientific research and clinical trial participation. Grant
recipients are investigating critical sex- and race-based
differences in genetics, immunity, inflammation, artificial
intelligence, lifestyle interventions, and more to understand how
to serve and cure all populations. As part of its commitment to
improving health equity in brain and vision diseases, BrightFocus
has also partnered with Women’s Health Access Matters (WHAM) to
drive continued progress for equitable representation in
science.
Examples of this year’s BrightFocus Foundation grant awards
include:
- The role of the immune system in driving cognitive
decline;
- Pioneering new vision tests to monitor the effects of
treatments for age-related macular degeneration;
- Understanding the mechanisms underlying neuronal loss in
glaucoma.
"The research funded by BrightFocus Foundation serves as a
pivotal starting point in the journey toward better health and
quality of life for the hundreds of millions of people across the
globe,” said President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller. “We are honored
to fuel the field and support rockstar scientists on the quest to
end Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.”
Of the $10 million awarded this year, $5.6 million will go to
BrightFocus’ Alzheimer’s Disease Research program, $2.8 million to
its Macular Degeneration Research program, and $1.6 million to its
National Glaucoma Research program.
A list of the new research projects will be available this
summer on BrightFocus’ website, with additional details forthcoming
upon the completion of individual agreements with the partnering
institutions and scientists.
BrightFocus Foundation’s research programs are supported
entirely by private donor contributions from the public and
corporate and foundation grants; BrightFocus receives no government
funding. Learn more about how to support our work.
BrightFocus encourages researchers with groundbreaking ideas to
apply for a 2025 grant. Application information is available at
brightfocus.org/apply.
*Source: UNESCO
About BrightFocus Foundation
BrightFocus Foundation is a premier global nonprofit funder of
research to defeat Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.
Through its flagship research programs — Alzheimer’s Disease
Research, National Glaucoma Research, and Macular Degeneration
Research — the Foundation has awarded nearly $300 million in
groundbreaking research funding over the past 50 years and shares
the latest research findings, expert information, and resources to
empower the millions impacted by these devastating diseases. Learn
more at brightfocus.org.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240425105987/en/
Julia S. Roth Director, Integrated Marketing and
Communications, BrightFocus Foundation (301) 556-9382
jroth@brightfocus.org Kaci Baez Vice President, Integrated
Marketing and Communications, BrightFocus Foundation (301) 556-9370
kbaez@brightfocus.org