Two Faculty receive Catalyst Awards for their Research

Congratulations to both Dr. Sabine Fuhrmann and Dr. Kevin Schey for being awarded the prestigious Research to Prevent Blindness / American Macular Degeneration Foundation Catalyst Award for Innovative Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration!  These awards are given by the Research to Prevent Blindness Trustees, funded by both the Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) and the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF), and provide each of the winners with a $300,000 grant.  The Catalyst Award is designed to support novel, ground-breaking research into age-related macular degeneration (AMD), with the ultimate goal of creating effective treatments for this increasingly common and debilitating condition.

Dr. Schey’s project brings together three renowned labs that will meld the imaging modalities of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) in the analysis of AMD to offer the opportunity to develop a new tool for AMD diagnosis and allow physicians to make more informed decisions on the clinical management of the blinding eye disease.

Dr. Fuhrmann’s work targets the dysfunction and degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which is responsible for the progressive deterioration of the retina seen in AMD.

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $368 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 grantees, and findings generated bu these awards, go to www.rpbusa.org.

The AMDF works for the prevention, treatment, and cure of macular degeneration through raising funds, educating the public, and supporting scientific research.

Once again, we want to congratulate both Dr. Sabine Fuhrmann and Dr. Kevin Schey on receiving this award!  We are proud of your commitment to vision research and look forward to the outstanding work you will do as a result of these grants!