Fairfax, VA -- An annual program of ten $5,000 ophthalmic research grants has been adopted by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Foundation, it was announced today by Foundation Chairman, I. Howard Fine, MD.

“We’re initiating this grant program to encourage further research into all areas of eye disease and treatment,” said Fine, adding, “ASCRS was founded by young, enterprising ophthalmologists who were on the cutting edge of our profession, this is a way to carry on that tradition.”

Grant proposals will be accepted from January 1 through March 31 each year beginning in 2005. The Foundation’s Grant Review Committee will then narrow the pool down to ten with awards made in April. Grants will be limited to one grant per approved applicant per year.

“We hope the foundation’s research program will provide that critical first infusion of funding for those looking to explore a great new idea. While we hope the program will be embraced by young ophthalmologists and those still in training, we are by no means excluding anyone from participating. History has shown ophthalmologists to be among the most inventive and dynamic individuals in medicine. We look to fostering that creative thinking for betterment of the science and our patients,” said Dr. Fine.

A requirement of the grant program is that the research findings must be presented as a poster at the following year’s ASCRS Annual Symposium.

The research grant program rounds out the Foundation’s activities, which now include a public education program, and support of the ASCRS Foundation’s Robert M. Sinskey Eye Care Clinic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  The clinic provides pediatric cataract and other services to that region of Africa.