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Glaucoma Foundation mission is to gather, guide research dollars
For more than 20 years, the foundation has been striving to advance the cutting edge of glaucoma research, largely through facilitating corporate grants and organizing scientific gatherings.
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NEW YORK – Support for cutting-edge research — projects too fresh to receive funding from the National Eye Institute, but innovative enough to target new frontiers in the treatment and prevention of glaucoma — has been the goal of The Glaucoma Foundation since its inception, according to the chairman of the nonprofit organization.
Gregory K. Harmon, MD, who has been chairman of The Glaucoma Foundation since 1999, described the foundation’s philosophy and its scientific achievements in a recent interview on the eve of its annual Black and White Ball, as the group prepared to honor Allergan founder Gavin Herbert and motivational speaker Tom Sullivan.
“Our mission really is to raise money so that we can give it away, and we give it away in a thoughtful fashion, looking for new treatments and hopefully a cure,” Dr. Harmon told Ocular Surgery News.
Founded in 1984 by glaucoma specialist Robert Ritch, MD, the foundation has since that time been raising money for worthy research projects and for programs supporting glaucoma education and awareness.
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In 1985, Dr. Ritch assembled a scientific advisory board of top-level glaucoma researchers. That group identified areas of research that they felt were most likely to benefit patients. They then began to assess grant applications and determine the applicants’ potential for finding innovative approaches or solutions.
The advisory board is “not afraid to fund things that look like they could possibly lead somewhere in an exciting new way that somebody else might not have achieved,” Dr. Harmon said.
He said the grants currently managed by The Glaucoma Foundation are small in comparison with those handled by government agencies. They generally range from $35,000 to $50,000. But he said the work done with these grants can lead to larger funding in the future.
“[Researchers using our grants] find something interesting, and then they go on to get a massive grant from someplace else to carry their work even further. That’s happened numerous times,” he said.
Some areas of research supported by recent grants from the foundation include finding better ways of understanding, diagnosing and monitoring damage to the retina and optic nerve; finding better ways of delivering drug and gene therapies to the affected tissues; and finding methods to repair and regenerate damaged nerve cells to preserve sight.
Corporate involvement
According to Dr. Harmon, corporations such as Allergan are currently the largest benefactors of the foundation’s research, a shift from the days before Sept. 11, 2001, when their work was largely supported by Wall Street dollars.
“Now if you look at who really supports us, it’s more the corporate sponsors that we rely upon,” he said. “Wall Street, although they are supportive of us and their contributions are growing, they are nothing like they were back in the pre-9/11 days.”
Dr. Harmon explained that after the attacks of Sept. 11, when much philanthropy began to flow to charities related to the victims, The Glaucoma Foundation saw a drop-off in donations, which forced the organization to reexamine its goals.
According to Dr. Harmon, the Foundation’s activities before Sept. 11 included patient support, outreach and education efforts, including a 24-hour hotline. With the drop in donations, supplying all of those services in addition to the research grants became unfeasible. The foundation still supports some patient initiatives.
“If you have to drop something, you just focus on what you’re good at,” he said. “In a way, becoming focused has given us clarity in what we really should be doing, and I think that we are better for it.”
Research has become the group’s primary focus, and corporations with an interest in developing new means of managing glaucoma are facilitating that with their donations, Dr. Harmon said.
“They want to stop blindness from glaucoma too,” he said. “They want to figure out new and innovative ways to treat it and reverse it.”
| Gavin Herbert, corporate visionary | ||
Gavin S. Herbert, founder and chairman emeritus of Allergan Inc., was honored for a lifetime spent building the company that produces the glaucoma medications Alphagan and Lumigan, along with a host of other eye care products. Mr. Herbert received the Corporate Visionary Award from The Glaucoma Foundation at its annual Black and White Ball. “Gavin has changed the world by creating Allergan, and with the help of Julian Gangolli [Allergan’s president for North America] he has been a true friend to the foundation,” said Gregory K. Harmon, MD, chairman of The Glaucoma Foundation. In accepting the award, Mr. Herbert was modest about his accomplishments, attributing the creation of many of his company’s successful products to its scientific advisory board, begun with the help of Irving Leopold, MD, in the 1970s. “It’s really a recognition of what a team has done, and not necessarily an individual,” Mr. Herbert said in an interview with Ocular Surgery News. Mr. Herbert recalled that at the company’s beginnings in the 1950s, it produced the first ophthalmic antihistamine product and the first cortisone eye drop. “Ophthalmology has been the primary focus of the company really since the beginning,” he said. Tom Sullivan, the motivational speaker who was also honored at the ball (see related article, page 46), referred to Mr. Herbert as a personal hero for what he has done in the world of ophthalmic care. “The fact that this company was on the cutting edge of creating pharma that took the pain away means the world to me,” Mr. Sullivan said. Mr. Herbert said he still thinks about developments in ophthalmic pharmaceuticals. “If I spend time thinking about ophthalmology, it’s about new projects, particularly in the sight-threatening diseases like macular degeneration and some of the back-of-the-eye developments that are happening now,” he said. “That’s where I get my greatest enjoyment.” |
Research initiatives
The most ambitious program the foundation runs is its annual Think Tank, launched in 1994, in which scientists and researchers from throughout the world convene to discuss recent research, Dr. Harmon said.
The panel includes not only ophthalmologists but researchers in related fields, such as neuroscientists and researchers working with spinal cord injuries and nerve regeneration, he said. At each meeting, discussion focuses on a specific topic related to treating or reversing blindness from glaucoma. Past panels have focused on the molecular genetics of glaucoma, optic nerve rescue and restoration, and stem cell therapies.
“The most recent one had to do with drug delivery systems and nanotechnology,” Dr. Harmon said. “The Think Tank, I would say, is our next best wonderful thing.”
Julian Gangolli, Allergan’s president for North America, said support of glaucoma research is an important part of Allergan’s mission.
“Glaucoma is a major research thrust for Allergan,” he said. “Both with current products and those in the future, we feel a need to support the good, important research work that The Glaucoma Foundation is involved in, and we have supported the Think Tank since its inception.”
The Black and White Ball
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The annual Black and White Ball is the Foundation’s primary fundraiser, Dr. Harmon said.
“In addition to bringing in the bulk of the money that we give away throughout the year, it gives us a chance to interact with the sponsors, the corporations, the patients,” he explained. “It’s not just the corporations that are invited, but the grateful patients and other supporters.”
The funds raised by the ball have grown over the years. The first ball in 1987 raised $10,000, while the most recent raised more than $800,000 for foundation programs, Dr. Harmon said.
According to Mr. Gangolli, who served as dinner chairman at the ball, Allergan has been involved with The Glaucoma Foundation and the ball for a number of years.
In addition to raising funds, the ball gives the foundation an opportunity to honor people who have been especially supportive of its activities or who have exhibited outstanding work in educational or developmental capacities, Dr. Harmon said.
“This year is particularly meaningful to me because one of our biggest supporters through the years has been Allergan,” he said. “It’s a real opportunity to thank these people and the corporations that have been so supportive of us.”
For Your Information:
- Gregory K. Harmon, MD, is an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, director of the glaucoma service at New-York Presbyterian Hospital, and chairman of the Glaucoma Foundation. He can be reached at New-York Presbyterian Hospital, 520 East 70th St., Eighth Floor, Suite 823, New York, NY 10021; 212-746-2475; e-mail: gkharmon@med.cornell.edu.
- The Glaucoma Foundation, can be reached at 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 1206, New York, NY 10038; 212-285-0080; fax: 212-651-1888; e-mail: info@glaucomafoundation.org.
- Joan-Marie Stiglich, ELS, is OSN Editor in Chief.
- Jared Schultz is an OSN Staff Writer who covers all aspects of ophthalmology. He focuses geographically on Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.