Macula Society Research Grant

The purpose of the MSRG program is to provide funding for clinically relevant research into macular or retinal vascular diseases. Pilot projects with the potential to obtain additional external funding and projects coordinating the efforts of the general membership are preferred. Projects that already receive or are expected to receive $50,000 or more from other sources are not eligible for the Macula Society Research Grant Program. Members who received a research grant in the past three years are not eligible.

2019-2020 Research Grant Application

1. We have three separate grants per year available to support research endeavors of the members of the Macula Society. Retina Research Foundation supports one grant of $30k and Regeneron supports two grants of $37,500K. The funding of a proposal will be determined by the Research Committee depending on several criteria based upon(i) the project design (ii) the project feasibility (iii) the project significance. The ranking will then be presented to the Executive Committee and distribution of the final funding determined. 

2. The due date for applications will be November 15, 2019 at 11:59PM EST on the Macula Society web site. These should be submitted on line to allow easy transmittal to the various research committee members. The Macula Society Office will then disseminate the received applications to Committee members who will evaluate and rank them and make recommendations to the Chair for funding. These summaries will then be returned both to the Chair and Society secretary who will tally these numerical scores from which the final recommendations will be made. The funds will be released and the winner will be announced at the time of the 2020 Annual Meeting. 

3. No member of the Executive Committee or Research Committee may apply for this award during their time of service. 

4. Due to monetary restrictions, past Retina Research Foundation Award recipients are ineligible for this award. Click here for past recipients of a Retina Research Foundation grant who are ineligible to apply for the MSRG, or you may review the list on the Research Foundation site, http://retinaresearchfnd.org/research-programs/awardhistory/ 

1. The proposed research must have the potential of increasing the understanding of macular or retinal diseases. Grant proposals facilitating collaboration among the Macula Society members to study a particular disease are encouraged as well. Research receiving partial funding from sources additional to this MSRG award is also eligible, as the Macula Society believes that their support may encourage others to fund research. 

2. Funds are to be applied to equipment, supplies, and non-physician salary support. 

3. Research must conform to accepted standards of conduct (e.g., ARVO Guidelines for Use of Animals in Research), and is to receive institutional approval by the appropriate review committees (e.g., Animal Care Committee, Human Research Review Committee, etc.). 

4. The duration of the research project must not exceed 18 months. Research monies not disbursed during this time will be returned to the Macula Society. 

5. The firm deadline for receipt of an application is listed above. All applications must be submitted online through the Macula Society web site, www.maculasociety.org. 

6. Members of the Grant Application Review Committee consist of the Macula Society Research and Education Committee, who, as members, are ineligible for consideration of these awards. Members of the Executive Committee are also ineligible for consideration. 

7. Award recipients must acknowledge the support of the Macula Society Research Award Grant Program on all papers, presentations, and abstracts regarding the supported research. 

8. Each recipient must present their research project to the Macula Society within two years of receiving an award. The presentation will be given in a specially designated section of the Annual Meeting of the Macula Society. 

9. An audit of funds may be requested by the Macula Society at the completion of the project. 

Research Grant Recipients

2019
The Regeneron Macula Society Grant     $37,500 Glenn Yiu, MD University of California, Davis Title: Host immune responses to CRISPR-based Genome Editing of VEGF-A using AAV vectors
RRF Mills and Margaret Cox Macula Society Research Project $30,000 Stephen Yeh, MD Emory Eye Center Title: Ophthalmic Surveillance of Emerging Infectious Diseases within Sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asian Outbreak Zones
The Regeneron Macula Society Grant $37,500 Theodore Smith, MD Icahn School of Medicine of Mount Sinai Title: Fluorescence lifetime imaging in Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
2018
The Mills and Margaret Cox Macula Society Research Project $30,000 Cagri G. Besirli; MD, PhD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Title: The Role of HK2 in Photoreceptor Metabolism and Survival
The Macula Society Research Grant supported by Regeneron $37,500 Shlomit Schaal MD UMASS Medical School Title: Cone Photoeceptor defects in Retinal Degenerative Diseases
The Macula Society Research Grant supported by Regeneron $37,500 Naresh Mandava MD University of Colorado Title: Protein Biomarkers and Biological Pathways in the Recticular Pseudodrusen Phenotype of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
2017
M.E. Hartnett Novel Gene Therapy to Regulate Pathologic Neovascularization in AMD
2016
Christine A. Curcio, PhD Visualizing organelles in human retinal pigment epithelium by 3-dimensional electron microscopy
2015
Robyn Heather Guymer, MD The role of reduced phagocytosis in the pathogenesis of AMD
2013
Demetrios Vavvas, MD Role of RIP3 Kinase in Inflammation and Photoreceptor Cell Loss
2012
Kang Zhang, M.D. Using AMD Patient iPSCs for RPE Differentiation and Disease Modeling
Amani Fawzi, M.D. Platform for long-term Delivery of Anti-Angiogenic Peptides for Intravitreal Treatment of Neovascular Eye Disease
Milam A. Brantley, Jr., M.D., PhD. Small molecule-mediated differential expression of HTRA1 and ARMS2 to elucidate gene function in AMD
2011
Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD Genetic and Environmental Factors in AMD Click here for a link to the report on youtube.
Stephen Jae Kim, MD Safety, Pharmacokinetics, and Efficacy of Celecoxib and Valdecoxib after Intraocular Administration for Macular Edema
2010
J. William Harbour, MD Development of a blood test to diagnose uveal melanoma
2009
Rajendra S. Apte, MD Wnt Signaling in Choroidal Neovascularization
Lloyd P. Aiello, MD Treatment with Oral Rosiglitazone to Prevent the Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy in eyes at high risk of developing proliferative disease
2007
Paul Sternberg, MD Plasma proinflammatory biomarkers in patients with age-related macular degeneration
Jose Pulido, MD Activation State fo Immune Cells in the Human Choriod