OUR INITIAVES
Diabetic Retinopathy Education Outreach
Last year the ARF received a $200,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute to fund a symposium at the 2007 American Academy of Family Physician Scientific Assembly in Chicago, IL. The symposium focused on the cause, prevention and treatment of Diabetic Eye Disease and Glaucoma. The symposium was well attended with attendee numbers reaching above 150.
AMD Education Outreach
The ARF has received a $175,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute to fund a symposium at the 2008 American College of Physicians meeting in Washington, DC on May 16th. This program will offer a comprehensive examination of the challenges presented by Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) from several perspectives.
American Retina Foundation Small Grants Program
The American Retina Foundation is accepting grant applications for educational activities related to AMD and other neovascular diseases. Grants will be made in the amount $10,000 or less. Grants have been awarded to the Ohio Ophthalmological Society, Georgia Ophthalmology Society, and the Utah Ophthalmology society. To view the grants available and the application criteria please visit http://americanretinafoundation.org/grants
American Retina Foundation Educational Travel Grants
Funds can be used for travel to a meeting or event of an educational or leadership value to the retina community and patient care. Christine Nichols Kay has been awarded a grant to attend the AAO Mid Year Forum in Washington, DC. To apply for an educational travel grant please visit http://americanretina.org/travel
The ARF 2007 Travel Award
At the 2007 ASRS meeting Dr. Eric Thomas was presented with the fellows travel award. The Foundation makes this award possible to assist a member with the expense of attending the Annual ASRS meeting. This is a very visible example of how the Foundation works to encourage participation in ASRS events across the spectrum.
Inaugural 5k Run for the Retina
At the 2007 ASRS Annual Meeting the foundation hosted a 5k run/walk for the retina. We had a very good turnout for our first year doing this type of event. We had over 70 people pre-registered and 40 more registered onsite. Allergan made a special presentation to the top three male and female finishers. In the men's category Gerhard Kieselbach, John Lewis, and Christopher Devine rounded out the top three while in the women's category the honors went to Martina Kralinger, Christine Kay, and Janet Parnes. The foundation will hold its second running event in Maui at next years ASRS meeting.
AMD Scientific Poster Awards
At the annual ASRS meeting in 2007 in Palm Springs, CA, the foundation boards of directors viewed a total of 34 AMD-related posters. The judges selected one winner who was awarded a $2,000 prize. The winning poster was entitled "A Consecutive Series of Patients Treated with a Combination of Intraocular Avastin and Visudyne for Exudative AMD: One Year Followup".
AMD Kits
The ARF is currently distributing AMD Awareness education kits, intended to help medical professionals diagnose and treat their AMD patients and to increase awareness of AMD among consumers. This kit will be distributed to ASRS member practices nationwide. Funded in part by a grant from Alcon Laboratories, newly diagnosed AMD patients will receive this kit which includes valuable information such as an Amsler grid to track the progression of their AMD and recipe cards with tips for preparing meals high in vitamins and minerals.
AMD Advertorial in Readers Digest
The American Retina Foundation, in conjunction with Alcon Laboratories, published a AMD educational advertorial in the June edition of Readers Digest, during Focus on Eye Health month. It was published in the large print version which has over 5 million subscribers. The purpose of the advertorial was to educate people suffering from AMD on the signs of AMD as well as ways to prevent and treat AMD. The foundation is currently working with Alcon to produce a follow up advertorial.
ReachMD
ReachMD XM 157, which launched in March 2007 on XM satellite radio, is the nation's leading satellite radio service with more than 7.6 million subscribers. It provides the medical community with a national platform for discussion and news dissemination of general medical content as well as specialty content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ReachMD will feature the program, "The Revealing Retina" at different times of the day, every day for a month. Leaders in the field of Retina will focus on the most recent scientific and clinical research, new drug developments, best practices in patient care, and the latest treatment advances in treating and managing retinal disease. Archived programs can be heard by visiting www.americanretina.org
Prudler Research Grant
January 2007 the foundation board approved an additional $50,000 to be allocated to the research fund. Grants have already been awarded to Johns Hopkins University and the University of Houston. The grants will be awarded in amounts between $5,000 - $15,000. Funding will be available for 1 year and must be related to original research in macular degeneration.