The Macula Vision Research Foundation (MVRF) Announces Their 2013-2014 Grant Recipients

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Macula Vision Research Foundation (MVRF), a national nonprofit focused on funding research to find a cure for macular degeneration and other retinal diseases including childhood blindness, announces their 2013-2014 grant recipients.  The grantees will receive $100,000 a year for three years to fund their basic research projects directly aligned with the mission of MVRF to find treatments and a cure for degenerative eye diseases.

"Some of the scientists we have funded have identified the gene for Leber congenital amaurosis, a disease which causes blindness in children," say Karen and Herb Lotman, founders of MVRF.  "They are currently reversing childhood blindness as you read this.  We are eager for our new grantees to follow the same path with their research and continue to carry out our mission to find a cure for these types of diseases."  The four grantees receiving funding were chosen through a selective, invitation-only application process conducted by the Foundation's International Scientific Advisory Board.

2013-2014 MVRF Grant Recipients:

• Dr. Frans Cremers, Ph.D., a professor at Radboud University's Nijmegen Medical Center, Netherlands, will be using state of the art technology to identify gene variants in seven different retinal degenerative diseases that have no known associated gene variants.
• Roxana Radu, M.D., a researcher at the Jules Stein Eye Institute, L.A., will be researching the possibility of slowing retinal dysfunction, which often leads to macular degeneration, by expressing a specific type of protein in the eye.
• Dr. E. Strettoi, Ph.D., a senior investigator at the Italian National Research Council's Institute of Neuroscience, Italy, is conducting research on the sphingolipid pathway in the eye to identify the effects it has on retinal degeneration.
• Dr. Sally Temple, Ph.D., the scientific director and co-founder of the Regenerative Research Foundation's Neural Stem Cell Institute, N.Y., will attempt to use human stem cells to generate fully functional human photoreceptors.

To date, MVRF has awarded $18.6 million in grants to fund visionary research and is committed to funding the best and brightest researchers in the world.

About the Macula Vision Research Foundation:
The Macula Vision Research Foundation (MVRF) is a 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to finding a cure for macular degeneration and other retinal diseases. To reach this goal, MVRF funds groundbreaking research projects conducted by the world's top scientists with the hope of improving the lives of millions of people affected by visual impairment. What makes MVRF unique is that 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to research. All administrative and fundraising expenses are underwritten by the Karen and Herb Lotman Foundation, allowing MVRF to allocate all donations towards finding a cure. Along with funding research, MVRF also provides education and outreach to those with visual impairments through our SupportSight^TM seminars and newsletter.  www.mvrf.org

SOURCE Macula Vision Research Foundation