UAB Receives Grant for Blindness Prevention

The Department of Ophthalmology at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has received a $100,000 grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases. RPB is the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research. To date, the organization has awarded grants totaling $1,660,000 to UAB.

January 18, 2000

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Department of Ophthalmology at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has received a $100,000 grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) to support research into the causes, treatment and prevention of blinding diseases. RPB is the world’s leading voluntary organization supporting eye research. To date, the organization has awarded grants totaling $1,660,000 to UAB.

“This continued funding of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology by Research to Prevent Blindness underscores the importance of vision research,” said professor and department chairman, Dr. Lanning B. Kline. “There is exciting work underway here at UAB and at facilities across the country that offers renewed hope for many people with vision loss.”

Research at UAB supported by RPB includes studies of amblyopia, retinal surgery techniques, retinal detachment following macular surgery, age-related macular degeneration and ocular trauma caused by pressurized bottles and by paintball pellet war games.

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has channeled more than $172 million to medical institutions throughout the United States for research into all blinding eye diseases.