New York – Fight for Sight (FFS), Inc. today announced the grant of $7,500 to support the program for the Analysis of Postoperative Endophthalmitis/Inflammation Following Anterior Segment Surgery, of the Inter-Mountain Ocular Research Center at the Moran Eye Center of the University of Utah. The program helps ophthalmologists determine the causes of postoperative endophthalmitis and toxic inflammation and eliminate them in their practices.
“This is a unique and vitally needed program,” said Kenneth Barasch, MD, president of the Board of Directors of FFS. “For us, this is an unusual grant, but we have known of the program for some time, know of its value to the ophthalmologic surgical community, and we felt compelled to support it,” he added.
The Inter-Mountain Ocular Research Center
When surgeons contact the center seeking help in determining the cause of an endophthalmitis or inflammation outbreak, they receive a detailed protocol to gather all relevant information for each patient involved in the outbreak. The protocol and used instruments, specimens, medications, and other relevant materials are returned to the center for analysis. The Center’s Director, Nick Mamalis, MD, and his research fellows then comb the evidence for potential problems.
“We give the surgeons a summary report with steps to take to prevent problems from recurring,” Mamalis said, adding “In the most difficult cases, we will send a research fellow to go on-site for a couple of days to review how patients are prepared for surgery, how medications are handled, how instruments are sterilized, etc., to discover potential causes for the inflammation.”
The center staff summarize findings in the form of a lecture at national ophthalmic meetings sponsored by ASCRS or the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Each year at the ASCRS meeting, center staff teach a course on evaluation and treatment of postoperative endophthalmitis and inflammation.
Mamalis and the other staff of the Intermountain Ocular Research Center do not charge physicians for their assistance. However, practices must pay the air fair and nominal expenses of research fellows who make on-site evaluations. Historically, the service has been supported by ASCRS. In early 2003, the Center received a $15,000 grant from the ASCRS Foundation to support its infection prevention services.
Fight for Sight: Funding ophthalmic research for more than 50 years.
Fight For Sight has played a leading, and somewhat unusual, role in ophthalmic research by providing grants for young researchers. “We reach out to all of the departments of ophthalmology across the country, and we are well known at most of the medical centers and universities,” says Barasch.
FFS Foundation supports grants-in-aid, post doctoral research and student fellowships to encourage and advance scientific training and research to study the eye in various branches of biological sciences and clinical medicine.
Our funding priorities are given to pilot projects for research to clinically important eye diseases, Barasch said. Our strategy is to support younger investigators, and promote development of science that leads to more substantial funding from other foundations and the National Eye Institute.
The FFS Scientific Review Committee gives preference to clinical and disease-oriented grants and training fellowships in the areas of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, amblyopia, strabismus, AIDS-related eye disorders, cataract, and uveal and corneal inflammation.
The FFS research program is governed by the FFS Advisory Board and is administered in cooperation with the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). A panel of volunteer scientists, who are ARVO members, reviews grant applications.
Headquartered in New York City, the foundation was started by Mildred Weisenfeld, who, when diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa in 1946, learned from her physicians that there was virtually no research that could help her or people like her. “So, Mildred, with virtually no money of her own, founded FFS and developed relationships with scores of people who were concerned about vision loss,” Barasch said, adding “over the years, with sums from mostly small donors, we’ve contributed more than $16 million to eye research.”
FFS makes between 60 and 70 grants annually. Student fellowships average about $2,100 for a summer, grants-in-aid and post-doctoral fellowships about $16,000. Grant applications and information can be obtained from Fight For Sight, Inc., at info@fightforsight.com, 381 Park Avenue South, Suite 809, New York, NY 10016, telephone, (212) 679-6060.
