Historic $40 Million Gift to CU Anschutz Dept. of Ophthalmology will Fuel Research and New Therapies

"This transformational gift was made possible by one of our longstanding philanthropic partners, whose family holds a deep passion for improving health and healthcare in Colorado and beyond," said CU Anschutz Chancellor Donald M. Elliman. "Their generous investment has established the Department of Ophthalmology Research Endowment, which will provide resources to speed innovation and research with the potential to save and restore sight."

Part of the gift is available for immediate use, including funding for critical basic science research in vision preservation and restoration, while the rest will provide ongoing support well into the future.

The donor, a patient at the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, has chosen to remain anonymous, yet their gift will accelerate the ophthalmology program that is already an innovative, national leader in the quest to treat and cure eye disease.

"We have a tremendous opportunity to fuel our research enterprise which is fundamental to clinical care," said Naresh Mandava, MD, chair of the CU Department of Ophthalmology and the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Endowed Chair in Retinal Diseases. "This gift will allow us to translate technology from the lab to the patient faster than before."

The timing couldn't be better.

Some 10,000 Americans turn 65 each day and that comes with an increase in diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration.

"We have the chance to change the fate of those with these diseases with funding like this," Mandava said.

The Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center is the sole academic eye center in Colorado and serves about 115,000 patients a year.  It has already launched a range of initiatives aimed at eradicating persistent eye diseases. They include:

The CellSight program involves teams of investigators from across disciplines working to develop novel stem cell-based therapies to save and restore eyesight in blinding diseases.

The University of Colorado Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) registry allows researchers to investigate AMD, which is projected to affect almost 300 million people worldwide by 2040. Nearly 2,000 patients from the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center are enrolled.

Artificial intelligence is being used to build algorithms to help diagnose macular degeneration and glaucoma and screen for blinding diseases in infants.

"We are taking big datasets and seeing if we can identify the mechanisms that cause disease," Mandava said. "We can also identify which patients will benefit from new drug therapies. So that opens the door for pharmaceutical companies to study their drugs on new patient populations earlier in the course of disease."

The CU Anschutz Department of Ophthalmology is a national leader in innovation. It has won 60 patents since 2020. At least 13 technologies have been invented here and licensed to industry like the world renowned Kahook Dual Blade, designed for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. It was invented by Malik Kahook, MD, Slater Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology and professor at the CU School of Medicine.

These innovations have spurred millions in investments, with several companies spun out of the department.

"The donor and their family have been longtime patients of the Eye Center. This generous gift reflects their deep appreciation for the exceptional care they've received and their desire for others to benefit from the same high-quality eye care at CU for generations to come," said John H. Sampson, MD, PhD, MBA, Dean of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Mandava said he and his colleagues are honored that someone had enough confidence in the eye center to bestow such a large gift. It confirms just how precious sight is to people and the importance of vision science research programs.

"There is a tremendous responsibility that comes with this," he said. "We have to deliver on every level to meet the full potential of this gift. And more importantly, we have to honor the intent of this investment which is to bring sight to patients."

About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes and two nationally ranked independent hospitals - UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital and Children's Hospital Colorado – which see more than two million adult and pediatric patient visits yearly. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, the CU Anschutz Medical Campus delivers life-changing treatments, patient care and professional training and conducts world-renowned research fueled by $910 million in annual research funding, including $757 million in sponsored awards and $153 million in philanthropic gifts for research.

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Contact: David Kelly, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, [email protected]

SOURCE University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus