Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Winter/Spring 2008

Transcription

1 Associatio for Research i Visio ad Ophthalmology Witer/Sprig 2008 Message from the Presidet We ca all be advocates for visio research What matters most to ARVO members? A recet survey amog members showed that obtaiig moey for research is No. 1 o the problem list, o matter where our members are located. Covicig govermet agecies, idustry ad private idividuals that eye research is essetial is oe of ARVO s key roles. I the US, ARVO helps support two great visio research educatio groups: the Natioal Alliace for Eye ad Visio Research (NAEVR) ad the Alliace for Eye ad Visio Research (AEVR). These groups orgaize briefigs o Capitol Hill i Washigto, DC as well as visits for ARVO trustees ad Aual Meetig Program Committee members to the offices of legislators. They help ARVO members ad others educate Cogressioal staff about eye research ad the importace of icreased fudig. NAEVR actively supports legislatio that broades the pool of fudig available to visio researchers. I other coutries, the ARVO ame ca help to brig i moey from idustry or govermet just as it does i the US. ARVO members are curretly buildig a etwork of iteratioal chapters (see Martie J. Jager, MD, PhD page 2). Ay coutry may orgaize a affiliate uder the ARVO flag, meetig aually, stimulatig collaboratio amog scietists ad educatig their ow govermets ad idustry about the importace of eye ad visio research. Aroud the world, fudig will improve whe we all become advocates for eye research. We will oly be able to achieve our goal to prevet or cure eye disorders whe we have adequate research moey. ARVO ca support all of us i that edeavour, ad you ca help. As oe year eds ad aother starts, cosider a last-miute doatio. Perhaps the ARVO Foudatio for Eye Research (AFER; see page 18) ca be your goal: it helps youg researchers atted the ARVO Aual Meetig ad supports the careers of cliicia-scietists. I the future, AFER will stimulate collaboratio betwee developig coutries ad established laboratories. The great ma behid AFER, Joh Dowlig, will be hoored at the 2008 Aual Meetig (see page 18), ad the work of the Foudatio will cotiue to expad. You would ot have bee able to read this if you could ot see. Visio is valuable, ad worthy of our efforts to persevere i research util we achieve our goal of prevetig blidess. Despite fudig disappoitmet, US Cogress hears visio commuity Although the omibus spedig bill passed by Cogress o December 19 essetially failed to icrease fudig for NIH s Natioal Eye Istitute, the visio commuity still had a ifluece. We were very disappoited by what amouts to a et decrease i fudig for NEI after iflatio, said James Jorkasky of the Natioal Alliace for Eye ad Visio Research. But the visio advocacy commuity should be proud that its message about the value of medical research was heard by Cogress. He was referrig to the NIH budget icrease origially icluded i the FY2008 Labor, Health See Bill, page Check out your ARVO 2008 Meetig Preview eclosed Leworth Johso is makig a differece page 9 Robert Frak speaks out about IOVS page 16 Hosts eeded for visitig researchers page 19 I this issue Goverace 2 NEI Director s Message 5 Aroud the Globe 6 Educatio Programs 6 Advocacy 8 Awards ad Grats 14 JOV 15 IOVS 16 The ARVO Foudatio for Eye Research 18

2 GOVERNANCE Officers Martie J. Jager, MD, PhD Presidet Robert Ritch, MD Vice Presidet Todd P. Margolis, MD, PhD Presidet-Elect Doald C. Hood, PhD Vice Presidet-Elect Barry S. Wikler, PhD Vice Presidet-Elect Sally S. Atherto, PhD Executive Vice Presidet ARVO Office Joae G. Agle Executive Director Joae Olso Assistat Director of Commuicatios Joh Saville Productio & Desig Director Twibrook Parkway Suite 250 Rockville, MD Phoe: Fax: Iteratioal chapter affiliate program to expad After a successful 18-moth pilot, ARVO is ivitig members i other coutries to joi Argetia, Brazil, Israel ad Hugary i creatig iteratioal chapter affiliates. To fid out more, dowload the ARVO Chapter Affiliate Start- Up Maual from the Global Activities sectio at This pdf maual icludes eligibility requiremets ad a olie applicatio form. Proposed Bylaws Amedmet: Updatig Sectio Trustee omiatio process Backgroud: I 2005, ARVO bega takig Sectio Trustee omiatios i advace of the Sectio Busiess Meetigs held each year at the Aual Meetig. The aim was to icrease the umber of cadidates o the ballot. Members also could omiate cadidates at the Busiess Meetig itself. Sice the, the umber of advace omiatios has icreased. The proposal: The Board of Trustees would like to further streamlie this process, ad is proposig to amed the bylaws to adopt olie-oly, advace omiatios. Sectio cadidates would be aouced at the Sectio Busiess Meetigs. This ew procedure would be implemeted i Jauary The vote o the proposed amedmet will take place at the Geeral Busiess Meetig at the 2008 Aual Meetig. Amedmets to the ARVO bylaws require 100 votes, so we strogly ecourage you to atted the 2008 Geeral Busiess Meetig o Wedesday, April 30, i Fort Lauderdale ad have your say. The proposed amedmet is as follows: 5.03 Electio. (a) Nomiatio of Trustees. Durig the course of each Aual Meetig of ARVO, each Scietific Sectio of ARVO shall hold a separate busiess meetig. By the ed of the first day of the ARVO Aual Meetig, At the separate busiess meetig, each stadig Scietific Sectio whose Trustee s term of office will expire at the ed of the followig year s Aual Meetig shall omiate by olie vote o more tha two (2) cadidates. The two cadidates will be aouced at the separate busiess meetig. o Oe of whom cadidate will be elected as the Successor Trustee by a olie electroic electio prior to the followig year s Scietific Sectio s separate busiess meetig, which will take place at the Aual Meetig. AP ad GL members: First all-olie electio The Board of Trustees electios go to all-electroic votig for the first time this sprig, as votig members of Aatomy/Pathology (AP) ad Glaucoma (GL) Sectios go to the polls via the Iteret. The ew votig procedures were adopted last year to help make the Trustee electios as accessible ad represetative as possible (see Sectio 5.04 of the Bylaws o for details). Every vote couts so if you are a votig member (Regular, Family, Sustaiig, Life ad Family Life), make sure you have your say i your Sectio s leadership! Votig opes March 17. Watch your ad for cadidate bios ad votig istructios. We will aouce the results at the Sectio Busiess Meetigs durig the 2008 Aual Meetig. The AP ad GL Sectios have each omiated two cadidates to stad i the 2008 Board of Trustees electios. AP Sectio Has Grossiklaus, MD, MBA Emory Uiversity School of Medicie Atlata, GA Jacob Pe er, MD Hadassah-Hebrew Uiversity Medical Ceter Jerusalem, Israel GL Sectio Peg T. Khaw, MD, PhD Moorfields Eye Hospital Lodo, Eglad Louis R. Pasquale, MD Massachusetts Eye ad Ear Ifirmary Bosto, MA 2 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

3 Allerga Eye Care is focused o the future, ad o the ulimited possibilities i sight. For more tha five decades we ve helped shape the ladscape of eye care. We will cotiue to pursue research ad developmet that address the field of visio, ever losig sight of all the lives we ca touch alog the way Allerga, Ic., Irvie, CA APC

4 GOVERNANCE Strategic plaig iitiative: ARVO redefies visio ad goals Every five years, ARVO leaders look back at where the associatio has bee ad where we should be goig otherwise kow as the Strategic Plaig Iitiative. I October 2007, the Strategic Plaig Group met i Chicago to develop a ew five-year pla to take up where the strategy leaves off. Frederick L. Ferris, III, MD, Log Rage Plaig Committee Chair, led the sessio, which icluded ARVO Trustees, iteratioal chapter ad idustry represetatives, past ad preset Aual Meetig Program Committee members, ad ARVO seior staff. I preparatio for the Strategic Plaig Meetig key stakeholders from govermet, chapters ad related orgaizatios were iterviewed. ARVO also surveyed members to highlight key issues ad cocers ad gather suggestios for chage. Results Participats at the October meetig revised ARVO s purpose statemet: ARVO s purpose is to facilitate the advacemet of visio research ad the prevetio ad cure of disorders of the visual system worldwide. The plaers also developed a revised two-part visio statemet. The first statemet describes the impact ARVO aims to make o prevetio ad cure; the secod is a visio of the role ARVO both the orgaizatio ad its members seeks to fulfill. ARVO s visio To advace [basic ad cliical] kowledge ad prevet ad cure disorders of the visual system To demostrate by its programs ad actios that ARVO is the leadig itera- AAO recogizes former ARVO presidet The America Academy of Ophthalmology recetly recogized ARVO past presidet Gary Abrams, MD (Kresge Eye Istitute, Waye State Uiversity) for his cotributios to the AAO Coucil s Subspeciality Specialized Iterest Sectio. He served o Coucil ARVO Vice Presidet-Elect Barry Wikler, PhD, at the ARVO Strategic Plaig Meetig tioal forum for visio research ad the primary advocate for visio sciece worldwide The group agreed that ARVO s purpose ad visio rest o five core values: 1. Strivig for scietific excellece ad a demad for itegrity ad ethics i research 2. Ope exchage ad dissemiatio of iformatio 3. Iclusiveess ad diversity of people ad ideas 4. Collegiality 5. Member resposiveess/customer service Goals The Strategic Plaig Group created five ew goals for ARVO. The Goal Pael chairs will idetify objectives to help ARVO achieve these goals ad recruit voluteers to develop strategies for meetig the objectives betwee Jauary ad the 2008 Aual Meetig. Goal 1: Leadig iteratioal forum ARVO will demostrate by its programs ad actios that it is the leadig iteratioal forum for visio research. Goal 2: Primary advocate for visio research worldwide ARVO will expad its iteratioal advocacy efforts. Goal 3: Support for youg ivestigators Youg ivestigators will be a importat part of the vitality of ARVO. Goal 4: Membership value ad growth Visio scietists will choose ARVO as their primary research membership orgaizatio. Goal 5: Ifrastructure ad goverace ARVO will be orgaizatioally ad fiacially strog to fulfill its purpose ad achieve its visio ad goals. Tell ARVO what you thik The Board of Trustees approved the Strategic Pla i November Members are ecouraged to provide feedback o the pla at ay time. Submit your commets to Log Rage Plaig Committee Chair Rick Ferris, MD, through ARVO s Director of Goverace ad Strategic Iitiatives, Lori Methia (lmethia@arvo.org). 4 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

5 GOVERNANCE New process Aual Meetig Program Committee omiatios ad electio Electios for the Aual Meetig Program Committee (AMPC) will ow take place ahead of the Sectios Busiess Meetigs i Fort Lauderdale, FL, at the ARVO Aual Meetig. Each Sectio will vote olie to elect a represetative to the AMPC. Nomiatios Watch your ad the ARVO Web site for a Call for Nomiatio otice with requiremets ad istructios. The omiatio deadlie is February 20. Electio Votig opes March 17. I early March, cadidate bios ad votig istructios will be posted o the ARVO Web site. Please cotact Lori Methia (lmethia@arvo.org) if you have ay questios about the ew procedures. IM, RC ad VI: Get ready to choose your Trustee cadidates for 2009 At the 2008 Sectio Busiess Meetigs which takes place at the Aual Meetig, votig members of the Immuology/Microbiology (IM), Retial Cell Biology (RC) ad Visual Psychophysics/Physiological Optics (VI) Sectios will omiate cadidates to stad i the 2009 Board of Trustees electios. Please thik about who would best represet your Sectio i this importat role ad omiate members i good stadig who are willig to serve. ARVO will accept omiatios before ad durig the Sectio Busiess Meetigs. Watch your ad for more iformatio about omiatio requiremets ad deadlies. DIRECTOR S MESSAGE Chartig ew territory: Ido-US Joit Workig Group o Visio Research Paul A. Sievig, MD, PhD Natioal Eye Istitute Director Sigificat, collaborative visio research betwee US ad Idia scietists is becomig a reality, as the Ido-US Joit Workig Group (JWG) moves ito the grat applicatio ad fudig stage. A October meetig at the Lawto Chiles Iteratioal (Stoe) House o the NIH campus i Marylad, US, etitled Global Parterships: Expasio of Collaborative Visio Research, helped move the project further toward implemetatio. The JWG alog with a formal Statemet of Itet were the results of a series of workshops that ARVO orgaized i Our recogitio that visio research is ow a global eterprise spurred those workshops. I fact, almost half of ARVO s members today are based outside the US, represetig 71 coutries. All of us will beefit from iteratioal collaboratio, which presets a opportuity to icrease scietific talet ad resources. Later, Idia ad US scietists idetified five core research areas: 1. Cliical aspects of eye disease 2. Molecular geetics of eye disease 3. Stadardizatio of cliical measuremet techiques ad termiology 4. Traslatioal physiology: bedside-tobech-to-bedside applicatios 5. Idetificatio, developmet, ad exchage of research resources The parters have ow tured their eergies to implemetatio: coordiatig grat applicatio ad review betwee the US ad Idia to give these uique, bilateral research projects proper, rigorous cosideratio i a highly competitive fudig area. I wat to ackowledge the groudbreakig work of my former colleague at NEI, Dr. Leo Ellwei, who recogized the eed ad value of fosterig global research early o. Leo worked for may years with Dr. Balasubramaia of Idia s L.V. Prasad Eye Istitute to brig this idea to fruitio. Although Leo recetly retired, he cotiues to participate i the process as a voluteer. I am also grateful to ARVO Executive Director Joae Agle ad ARVO s leadership for facilitatig discussios at the ARVO Aual Meetig (for details, see ARVONews Summer 2007, page 5). With this uique collaboratio, NEI is chartig largely ufamiliar territory at NIH. But through hard work, determiatio ad iovative thikig, this opportuity is becomig a reality. ARVONews Witer/Sprig

6 The Globe Hugaria group becomes ARVO chapter The Hugaria Associatio for Research i Visio ad Ophthalmology (HARVO) is ARVO s ewest iteratioal affiliate chapter followig its successful applicatio this past November. HARVO is a special iterest group of the Hugaria Ophthalmological Society, which was fouded i HARVO s members iclude 56 basic ad cliical researchers. The group expects its affiliatio with ARVO to icrease ad stregthe eye ad visio research collaboratios betwee basic scietists ad cliicias at the local level. For more iformatio o HARVO, visit (iformatio is curretly available oly i Hugaria). Jager to address Israel meetig The Israeli Society for Visio ad Eye Research (ISVER) has ivited ARVO Presidet Martie Jager, MD, PhD to speak at its aual meetig, March at the Neve Ila Resort Hotel, i Neve Ila, Israel. The meetig draws 180 basic scietists ad cliicias from across the regio. Last year s guest lecturer was ARVO member Robert B. Nusseblatt, MD, who spoke about AMD. Visit to lear more about this year s ISVER aual meetig ad to dowload a copy of the 2007 meetig abstracts, available i Eglish ad Hebrew. US Chia lucheo to emphasize iovatio The third aual US Chia Networkig Lucheo will focus o iovatio i visio research. The speakers are researchers who have helped build cooperatio i eye research betwee the US ad Chia. Presetatio topics will cover iovatio i retial prosthesis, glaucoma research ad coreal research. The evet will take place durig ARVO s Aual Meetig i Fort Lauderdale o April 28, 1:15 2:45 pm. All are welcome to atted; a limited umber of box luches will be available. Would you like to lear more about how you ca become ivolved i research collaboratios betwee the US ad Chia? Joi our listserv by completig the form at zgi?p=web2274vgq6snd. Programs Catch up with ARVO s olie educatio series Still troubled over missig a particular course or symposium at the 2007 Aual Meetig? ARVO s olie educatio series has that covered. Visit ad view keyote sessios, lectures, courses ad symposia for FREE. Watch for more sessios comig i May. Sed your suggestios for topics/sessios you wat to see olie to arvo@arvo.org. Observe the ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute Space is available for a limited umber of observers at the fourth aual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute, April 25-26, 2008 i Fort Lauderdale, FL. The coferece, directed by Gülgü Tezel, MD, will address The Role of Glia, Mitochodria ad the Immue System i Glaucoma. Deadlie for applicatios is February 8. Apply today at: Call for proposals: 2009 Summer Eye Research Coferece Proposals for the 2009 ARVO Summer Eye Research Cofereces (SERC) are due March 14. For details, go to or cotact Rhoda Williams, Meetigs Maager, at rwilliams@arvo.org or Ayoe ca submit a proposal; there are o geographic or topic restrictios Importat Dates February 22 Abstract Search ad Itierary Builder available olie March 3 Deadlie: ARVO Aual Awards omiatios March 10 Deadlie: Housig reservatios March 28 Deadlie: Early registratio rates April 18 Deadlie: Registratio cacellatio April ARVO/ISIE Meetig ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute April 26 ARVO Educatio Courses April 27 May 1 ARVO Aual Meetig: Eyes o Iovatio ARVONews Witer/Sprig

7 Programs Upcomig evets NEI/FDA Ophthalmic Cliical Trial Desig ad Edpoits Meetig March The secod NEI/FDA Ophthalmic Cliical Trial Desig ad Edpoits Meetig (o glaucoma) will take place i Bethesda, MD. For more iformatio, icludig how to register, go to Symposia, World Ophthalmology Cogress Jue 28 July 2 ARVO will sposor two symposia at the World Ophthalmology Cogress (WOC) this summer i Hog Kog: Naotechology i Ophthalmology: The Great Leap Forward, orgaized by Robert Ritch, MD, ad New Discoveries i Ocular Ocology, orgaized by Martie Jager, MD. Asia-ARVO Meetig Jauary 15 18, 2009 The Idia Eye Research Group is orgaizig the secod Asia-ARVO Meetig i Hyderabad, Idia ext year. The ew locatio reflects ARVO s commitmet to parterig with differet coutries i Asia that have expadig eye research programs. Mark your caledar ad pla ow to experiece the bled of sciece ad techology alog with the rich heritage ad culture of Hyderabad. For more iformatio, go to or cotact the meetig orgaizers at asiaarvo@lvpei.org. ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute April The fourth aual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute is i Fort Lauderdale, FL. The coferece, directed by Gülgü Tezel, MD, will address The Role of Glia, Mitochodria ad the Immue System i Glaucoma. For more iformatio see ARVO/ISIE Aual Meetig April The Iteratioal Society for Imagig i the Eye (ISIE) is ow a official part of ARVO; former ISIE members are ivited to become ARVO members. ISIE will o loger collect separate dues. I additio, former ISIE members should cosider participatig i ARVO s Multidiscipliary Ophthalmic Imagig Group (MOIG); see The ISIE aual meetig, reamed the ARVO/ISIE Meetig, takes place April i Fort Lauderdale, FL just before the ARVO Aual Meetig. For more iformatio, go to or cotact Elly Terry (eterry@arvo.org, ) ARVO Summer Eye Research Coferece: Ocular Autoimmuity ad Iflammatio July 31 August 2 Pla ow to atted the 2008 ARVO Summer Eye Research Coferece (SERC) i beautiful Moterey, CA! Immuological mechaisms uderpi a wide spectrum of ocular diseases, icludig iflammatory, autoimmue ad degeerative coditios. This coferece will brig together a diverse group of experts to exchage ideas ad raise awareess amog youg researchers ad cliicias of the ew treds ad discoveries i this field. For more iformatio, go to or cotact Rhoda Williams (rwilliams@arvo.org, ). Cliical trials educatio series The ARVO Foudatio for Eye Research (AFER), through a geerous grat from the Allerga Foudatio, is developig a Cliical Trials Educatio Series specifically for visio researchers to preset state-of-the-art approaches to the desig, costructio ad executio of cliical trials i ophthalmology. Several oe-day basic cliical trials courses will be held durig: World Ophthalmology Cogress (WOC), Hog Kog, Jue 27, 2008 Europea Associatio for Visio ad Eye Research (EVER) Aual Cogress, Portoroz, Sloveia, October 1, 2008 America Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Aual Meetig, Atlata, GA, November 2008 Asia-ARVO Meetig, Hyderabad, Idia, Jauary 2009 ARVO Aual Meetig, April 2009 I additio, ARVO is plaig a idepth three-day course September 17 20, Watch the ARVO Web site, ad our e-ewsletter, ARVO Isight, for details. ARVONews Witer/Sprig

8 ADVOCACY NIH Director Elias Zerhoui Zerhoui emphasizes eed to research software of biological systems Scietists eed to study the software of life as well as the hardware, said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhoui, MD, keyotig a November coferece sposored by the Pharmaceutical Research ad Maufacturers of America ad Research!America i Washigto, DC. Zerhoui oted the importace of P4 Medicie predictio, preemptio, persoalized ad participatory research i maagig the disease cycle, but said it was also importat to look ito areas such as cellular mechaisms ad sigalig. He highlighted the discovery of gee variats associated with age-related macular degeeratio (AMD) i 2005 as a major breakthrough from the Huma Geome Project, but poited out dozes of gee discoveries that occurred i 2007, demostratig NIH s accelerated kowledge of the basis of disease. Bill, cotiued from page The Hoorable Paul Rogers (Research!America), Karl Moeller (Campaig for Public Health, CPH) ad CPH Board member Jeifer Luray (Abbott Laboratories) preset Seate LHHS Appropriatios Subcommittee Chair Tom Harki (D-IA) with a ad sposored by the advocacy commuity, icludig NAEVR, that ra i several Hill dailies ad supported the LHHS coferece agreemet. ad Huma Services ad Educatio appropriatios coferece bill passed by Cogress i November ad later vetoed by Presidet Bush. Jorkasky explaied that the visio commuity set thousads of s, visited Capitol Hill ad joied with coalitio parters i letters ad ads urgig Cogress to make appropriate icreases to NIH s budget. The bill vetoed by Bush reflected a 3.8 percet icrease over FY2007 levels. It would have bee the first time i five years that a NIH fudig icrease matched iflatio (see chart). Do t misiterpret the vote it is just politics, said Billy Tauzi, Presidet ad CEO of Pharmaceutical Research ad Maufacturers of America, a former Republica cogressma from Louisiaa ad a cacer survivor. He added that there is a lot of support for NIH i Cogress. Researchers eed to make the coectio betwee NIH fudig ad extramural research beig coducted at istitutios i the Cogressioal district. The veto override failed by a vote of A total of 51 Republicas voted with 226 Democrats for the override, while 141 Republicas voted to sustai the veto. May of these are members of the coservative Republica Study Committee that vowed to sustai vetoes of bills that exceeded the Presidet s budget request. Whe Cogress retured i December, it passed a cosolidated appropriatios bill that essetially flat fuded domestic spedig programs while addig $70 billio for the Iraq ad Afghaista coflicts. FY2007 FY2008 FY2008 FY2008 Coferece FY2008 Fial Budget House Seate Bill Fial NIH* $28.9 B $28.6 B $29.6 B $29.9 B $30 B $28.9 B -1.7% +2.6% +3.5% +3.8%.46% James Hoekel, OD, a childre s visio researcher from Missouri, cotacts his seators at NAEVR s booth at the America Academy of Optometry meetig i Tampa, FL. The office of Seator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) respoded immediately, otig the Seator s support for the maximum possible icrease i NIH fudig. NEI+ $667.1 M $667.8 M $677 M $681.9 M $684.1 M $667.1 M +0.1% +1.5% +2.2% +2.5% 0% * Program level, iclusive of trasfers/oe-time expeses. + FY2007 NEI excludes $8.5 M for NEI programs due to direct appropriatio to NIH commo fud ad $42 M i NIH Director Bridge Awards. 8 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

9 ADVOCACY Visio commuity at the table for NIH commo fud ARVO members are playig a key role as NIH supports tras-istitutioal research iitiatives with its commo fud created as part of the NIH Reform Act of NIH s ew Coucil of Coucils, which met for a iitial plaig meetig last November, will guide the fud. The Coucil of Coucils cosists of represetatives from the advisory bodies of NIH s 27 istitutes ad ceters (ICs). Amog them is Leworth Johso, MD, a ARVO member ad euro-ophthalmologist (Maso Eye Istitute, Uiversity of Missouri). Dr. Johso sits o NEI s Natioal Eye Advisory Coucil (see below). Aother ARVO member, Stephe Rya, MD (Dohey Eye Istitute/ USC), Presidet of NAEVR, sat o the Istitute of Medicie committee that recommeded a dedicated fud to support tras-istitutioal research i At the November gatherig, NIH Director Elias Zerhoui, MD, called the commo fud the glue for the ICs. He challeged the Coucil to be bold ad experimetal i its guidace o research ad creative i developig metrics to evaluate scietific success. Zerhoui highlighted examples of successful tras-istitute research, icludig collaboratio betwee ICs that idetified factors that ihibit agiogeesis (ew blood vessel growth) ad resulted i the first geeratio of FDAapproved drugs to treat the wet form of AMD ad are ow i cliical trials to treat diabetic retiopathy. For the first time i the appropriatios process, the commo fud had a direct budget lie i the FY2007 Joit Fudig Resolutio, of $486 millio. The FY2008 Labor, Health ad Huma Services ad Educatio appropriatios coferece report would fud it at $531 millio, or 1.77% of the NIH budget. Leworth Johso, MD, with Ala Kresky, MD, director of NIH s Office of Portfolio Aalysis ad Strategic Iitiatives Left to right: NIH Pricipal Deputy Director Rayard Kigsto, MD, PhD, ad NIH Director Elias Zerhoui, MD, liste as Leworth Johso, MD, provides commets. Makig a differece By Leworth Johso, MD JohsoLN@health.missouri.edu At the NIH Coucil of Coucils iaugural meetig i November, I met some of the most dyamic ad eergetic professioals from the Coucil, the NIH, the scietific commuity ad the public. I came away from that historic gatherig coviced that together, we ca ad will make a sigificat differece. Beig a NIH Coucil of Coucils charter member is a privilege that comes with eormous resposibilities. Previously, the 27 NIH istitutes ad ceters (ICs) could have bee viewed almost as a collectio of idepedet fiefdoms. However, this cogressioally authorized Coucil provides a forum for commuicatio ad cross-fertilizatio of the ICs, as we grapple with how best to use the commo fud for tras- NIH research iitiatives. I see my role o the Coucil as a iterlocutor espousig three basic commitmets: 1. actively listeig to the visio commuity regardig issues it feels are vitally importat; 2. advocatig ad egotiatig with the other Coucil members those positios that ca icorporate the ivolvemet of a umber of ICs; ad 3. ecouragig both the NIH director ad the director of Office of Portfolio Aalysis ad Strategic Iitiatives to take actios which will have far-reachig beefits for the visio commuity ad others. We must remember that this is a dyamic process, requirig a balace amog NIH, other Coucils, emergig public evets ad the visio commuity. Alog the way, I pla to seek ad ecourage participatio from others i the visio commuity as I decipher ad explore aveues for their ivolvemet. I am truly excited about the opportuities ad challeges that lie ahead, ad look forward to hearig ivaluable iput from others. ARVONews Witer/Sprig

10 ADVOCACY Cogressioal briefig: Whe rare eye disease is t so rare The critical eed for more research to prevet ad cure retial diseases is a issue close to home for Rep. Pete Sessios (R- TX), who has a teeager affected by retiitis pigmetosa (RP). Whe you have a 16-year-old so who wats to be a physicia ad has a great life ahead of him, you re crushed whe you lear he is losig his eyesight to RP, Sessios told attedees at a October Cogressioal briefig sposored by the Foudatio Fightig Blidess (FFB) ad the Alliace for Eye ad Visio Research. At the briefig, top leaders from the visio research commuity spoke about the critical eed to fud research to elimiate retial diseases that affect more tha 9 millio Americas. May retial diseases are cosidered to be rare or orpha (they affect less tha 200,000 people), SM but orpha diseases are a critical public health issue because collectively, they affect 25 millio Americas. ARVO member Stephe Rose, PhD, Chief Research Officer for FFB, the largest source of ogovermetal fudig for retial degeerative research i the world, ad Paul Sievig, MD, PhD, NEI s Director, discussed how govermet-private sector parterships beefit research. They highlighted a FFB-NEI partership that helped to advace a treatmet called Ecapsulated Cell Techology (ECT) ow i Phase II/III studies across the coutry for a variety of retial degeerative coditios, icludig RP, the dry form of AMD, ad Usher Sydrome (combied blidess ad deafess). What is leared i treatig the eye may traslate ito beefits for treatig other eurodegeerative diseases such as ALS, Parkiso s disease ad Alzheimer s disease. I a FFB-fuded lab study, ECT showed promise for savig visio, so the NEI subsequetly coducted Phase I safety studies of it, said Dr. Rose. Durig the Phase I trial, ECT saved ad i some cases restored visio. More tha 150 people are ow erolled i the Phase II/III studies, which are fuded i part by FFB. Dr. Sievig, who showed the tiy ECT to attedees, added, Oe of the advatages of workig i the eye is that it is easier to get the device ito the eye tha ito the skull. What is leared i treatig the eye may traslate ito beefits for treatig other eurodegeerative diseases such as ALS, Parkiso s disease ad Alzheimer s disease. I addressig the geetic basis of eye disease, Dr. Sievig oted that of the 25,000 gees i the body, about 10 percet or 2,000 have bee cloed, ad about oe-quarter of these have bee foud to cause eye disease. Over time, he cotiued, may commo coditios will be subdivided ito smaller, geetically related groups. We are fidig that all commo diseases i fact spliter ito groups of rare geetic diseases, ad we are begiig to treat these coditios based o their geetic profile. Dr. Rose cocluded, Te years ago, a perso with a retial degeerative disease was told There s othig we ca do for you, go home ad lear Braille, you will go blid. Today, thaks to fudig from the NEI ad FFB, there are cliical trials uderway to eradicate these diseases. There is a lot of hope. NEI Director Dr. Paul Sievig, FFB CEO Bill Schmidt ad Bobby Hillert from the office of Rep. Pete Sessios (R-TX) Rep. Pete Sessios offers a welcome to the 70-plus attedees. FFB s Dr. Stephe Rose details research ito rare eye diseases. 10 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

11 ADVOCACY Advocacy briefs ARVO ad the Natioal Alliace for Eye ad Visio Research had a busy autum. The full versios of these stories are available at Silver Book to focus o agig eye disease Several ARVO members have played a key role i compilig The Silver Book: Visio Loss, the first Silver Book dedicated to diseases of the agig eye which was also the focus of ARVO s Aual Meetig last year. The Silver Book is a well respected series published by the Alliace of Agig Research. The visio loss volume was released i partership with NAEVR. A release evet o Capitol Hill last September featured ARVO member Michael Gori, MD, PhD (Jules Stei Eye Istitute, UCLA). The publicatio s editorial board icluded members Paul Kaufma, MD, Toy Adams, OD, PhD ad Kevi Frick, PhD. Visio commuity supports Military Eye Trauma Treatmet Act Visio groups gathered o Capitol Hill i October to make sure Cogressioal staff uderstad the extet of eye ijuries i Iraq/ Afghaista ad the eed to improve coordiatio of care betwee the DOD ad VA. NAEVR members America Academy of Ophthalmology, America Optometric Associatio, Blided Veteras Associatio ad Prevet Blidess America supported the Military Eye Trauma Treatmet Act (H.R. 3558/ S. 1999) which creates a Military Eye Ijury Registry to track the diagosis ad treatmet of combat-related ijuries, as well as creates a joit DOD/VA program to coordiate all aspects of visual dysfuctio related to TBI, icludig screeig, diagosis, rehabilitative maagemet ad research. The Act s provisios were icluded i the FY2008 Natioal Defese Automatio Act passed by Cogress o December 14. Developig a ew tool for assessig the cost of visio impairmet ARVO members ad guests, icludig NAEVR s James Jorkasky, met i Vacouver last September to work o a methodological model to assess the costs of visio loss ad impairmet regioally, atioally ad worldwide. The group icluded represetatives from the World Health Orgaizatio, blidess prevetio orgaizatios ad health ecoomics researchers. Participats cosidered epidemiological evidece, direct medical costs, societal costs, productivity ad impact o well-beig. Kevi Frick, PhD, Paul Lee, MD ad Hugh Taylor, MD are coordiatig follow-up activities, icludig a paper o the group s recommedatios ad a course ad symposium at the 2008 ARVO Aual Meetig. ARVONews Witer/Sprig

12 Membership News Cora Verhage Prize apply ow The Cora Verhage Prize is awarded for the best ocular immuology poster or paper presetatio at the ARVO Aual Meetig. The Cora Verhage Prize was istituted i 1995 to hoor the memory ad scietific cotributios of our colleague Cora Verhage. A iteratioal jury committee of six active ARVO members has bee appoited to select the two prize wiers. The first prize wier will receive a award of $250 ad a plaque with a iscriptio of his or her ame alog with those of previous awardees. This plaque may be temporarily mouted i the istitute durig the year followig the presetatio at ARVO. The wier will also receive a broze medallio. Both the medallio ad the plaque cotai the image of Wiged Victory. The moey ad the plaque for the 2008 Cora Verhage Prize will be awarded at the 2009 ARVO Applicatio Form 2008 Cora Verhage Prize Aual Meetig. The secod prize wier will receive a award of $ Eligible cadidates for the prize should coform to the followig criteria: Cadidates must be studets or postdoctoral fellows cosidered as traiees i ocular immuology workig uder the guidace of a metor. Such traiees may have idepedet support for salaries, but caot hold a persoal grat to support the cost of their research. Excluded are idividuals with permaet faculty appoitmets at uiversities or research istitutes, ad employees of compaies. Applicatios must iclude the ame of the metor ad the title of the presetatio. 2. Cadidates must be the first author of a 2008 ARVO Aual Meetig poster or paper presetatio dealig with a subject i the field of ocular immuology. I would like to compete for the 2008 Cora Verhage Prize to be awarded for the best ocular immuology presetatio by a traiee. Name: Abstract Title: Metor Name: Metor Statemet: I hereby state that the above-amed applicat fulfills the traiee criteria for the Cora Verhage Prize. Metor Sigature: All the importat visio-related evets i oe spot! A RVO s ew searchable caledar allows you to easily idetify meetigs that meet your eeds, by locatio, orgaizatio, topic or CMEs! You ca post your ow meetig aoucemets directly o the site. Just click Add meetig ad provide all the details for your evet. Now s the time to look for a job jobs.arvo.org A ew year, a ew job Fid your perfect career move o ARVOJobs. Create a aoymous profile so employers ca cotact you, ad register your job criteria; whe matchig positios are posted, you will be automatically otified. Employer witer special! Reach the best cadidates: Post your positio before February 15, ad receive a 15% discout. Employers with active positios ca review all registered cadidates at o additioal cost. We curretly have 140 of the field s best cadidates. Deadlie for applicatios is March 24, Do ot sed applicatio forms to the ARVO office. Please sed all applicatio forms to: Dr. Adrew Taylor Schepes Eye Research Istitute 20 Staiford Street Bosto, MA USA Fax: adrew.taylor@schepes.harvard.edu 12 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

13 O9 ARVO Awards Call for Nomiatios The ARVO awards hoor idividuals for their exceptioal cotributios to ophthalmology ad visual sciece. There are o membership requiremets or geographical restrictios for omiees or omiators. Proctor Medal Outstadig research i the basic or cliical scieces as applied to ophthalmology. Friedewald Award Outstadig research i the basic or cliical scieces as applied to ophthalmology. Mildred Weisefeld Award for Excellece i Ophthalmology Distiguished scholarly cotributios to the cliical practice of ophthalmology. Coga Award Cotributios to research i ophthalmology or visual sciece that are directly related to disorders of the huma eye or visual system, by a promisig idividual 40 years of age or youger. Kupfer Award Distiguished public service o behalf of eye ad visio research. Special Recogitio Award Outstadig service to ARVO or the visio research commuity. Nomiatio Deadlie: March 3, 2008 Nomiatios must be submitted olie ad must iclude oe omiatio letter, a CV ad the ames of three colleagues who support the proposed awardee. Promotig sight-savig research globally See cotact: Barbara Hollis bhollis@arvo.org

14 ad Grats Fight for Sight offers research opportuities Fight for Sight awards $500,000 each year to youg researchers ivestigatig eye disease ad visio disorders. Summer Studet Fellowships $2,100 stiped to udergraduates ad medical studets iterested i explorig eye research. Deadlie is February 1. Postdoctoral Fellowships $20,000 for basic sciece researchers who are withi three years of their degree or ophthalmology cliical fellows who icorporate research ito their traiig. Deadlie is March 3. Grats-I-Aid Up to $20,000 for juior faculty with o exteral support. Awards ca be used for equipmet, supplies ad support staff. Deadlie is March 3. For guidelies ad electroic applicatio, visit or cotact Jaice Beso, Asst. Director at or jaice@fightforsight.com. Ivestigator Awards Deadlie: March 1, 2008 The Prevet Blidess America Ivestigator Awards provide fudig for cliically-based research ivestigatig issues related to the burde of eye-related illess. All research grats must focus o preservig sight ad prevetig blidess. Fudig priority is give to projects for research relatig to cliically importat eye diseases. Basic laboratory sciece research will ot be supported uder this program. These awards provide assistace to defray costs of persoel, equipmet ad cosumable supplies. Grats are for a oeyear period, rage from $20,000 to $50,000 ad commece o July 1, Grat recipiets will be required to submit quarterly progress reports. ARVO will review grat applicatios. Complete guidelies ad applicatios are available at For more iformatio, cotact: Adrea Hays, PBA Director of Public Health ahays@prevetblidess.org. Defese fudig available for visio research E ye ad visio research has bee icluded as oe of 21 fields for which Departmet of Defese (DOD) fudig will be available as part of a defese appropriatios legislatio. DOD s Cogressioally Directed Medical Research Program/Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program is fuded at $50 millio for FY2008. I its first year of listig (FY2006), the visio research commuity submitted 52 of the 651 total grat requests, or 8 percet, ad received five of the 48 awards, or 10%, represetig $4.8 millio (all recipiets are ARVO members). The bill also cotaied the Wouded Warriors Act s $70 millio fudig for a variety of research ad rehabilitatio programs, icludig research o visually-related eurological coditios associated with Traumatic Brai Ijury (TBI). NAEVR will track these fudig streams; iterested ARVO members ca NAEVR s David Epstei at depstei@eyeresearch.org for more iformatio. 14 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

15 OF VISION Joural of Visio: A tale of two graphs Adrew B. Watso Editor-i-Chief Joural of Visio I the world of Iteret publishig, there is a ew buzz-phrase: user-geerated cotet. May highly successful Web sites, such as TripAdvisor, Flickr, YouTube ad Wikipedia, are based upo materials submitted by users. But of course user-geerated cotet is othig ew to scholarly jourals; it is the basis of their existece for over three ceturies. Thus whe we lauched the Joural of Visio i Jauary 2001, we kew that we would succeed or fail based o oe statistic: submissios. Remarkably, perhaps, authors did submit to our ew joural, eve though it was a ew veue i a somewhat crowded field, ad eve though it was ope-access ad published oly o the Iteret. The success of the joural owes a special debt to these early adopters. As show i Figure 1, the rate of submissio grew, through fits ad starts, to a modest but sustaiable level of about 0.4 papers/day. I Jue 2006, the Joural of Visio received its first impact factor (a measure of citatio frequecy) of 3.469, placig it at the forefrot of specialty visio jourals. joural of VISION www. jouralofvisio. org Our curret figure of about 0.6 papers/day would allow us to publish about 220 papers per year. Because our review ad productio system is completely scalable, ad because our procedures are becomig ever more efficiet, we have every reaso to expect this umber to icrease. I summary, at the Joural of Visio, our two most critical statistics, rate of submissio ad rate of publicatio, are up ad icreasig. For this we thak our editors, reviewers, maagemet, staff ad of course, authors. Submissios Day Impact Date Figure 1. Rate of submissio versus submissio date for Joural of Visio. The data are averaged over a iterval of 120 days. The red arrow shows the date of our first Impact Factor. A year later, the impact factor rose to Perhaps as a cosequece, the submissio rate has grow rapidly. As the figure shows, a year ad a half later the rate cotiues to climb, ad is ow at a level about four times greater tha i Jue Eve if the rate climbs o further, we would project almost 600 submissios per year. The secod challege for a ew joural is to establish a review ad productio system that will rapidly process the flow of submitted articles. This challege was especially dautig for a opeaccess, olie joural, for which there were few tools, vedors or established models. Figure 2 shows that we have bee able to meet these challeges ad have bee able to deal with the risig umber of submissios. The figure shows the rate of publicatio from lauch to October Published Day Figure 2. Rate of publicatio versus publicatio date for Joural of Visio. The data are averaged over a iterval of 120 days. ARVONews Witer/Sprig

16 OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE Takig it persoally Robert Frak, MD (Kresge Eye Istitute, Waye State Uiversity, Detroit, MI) feels persoal ivolvemet was the key to his five-year teure as editor-i-chief of ARVO s Ivestigative Ophthalmology ad Visual Sciece (IOVS). As he turs over the reis to Paul Kaufma, MD, he reflects o his time ad approach at IOVS. Tell us about your backgroud ad areas of iterest. I m Professor of Ophthalmology ad of Aatomy ad Cell Biology at Waye State Uiversity. I am a cliical retia specialist, performig medical retia procedures but ot operative surgery. Durig my years i the lab, I did lot of work o retial vascular disease, both basic sciece as well as cliical studies. What are your prevailig thoughts upo reachig the ed of your teure as editor-i-chief (EIC)? Robert Fraks, MD, former editor-i-chief of IOVS Beig EIC has bee a woderful experiece. I ve ejoyed it eormously, ad I thik I ve doe somethig useful. It probably took aroud 30% of my time, maybe more. I already miss the day-to-day work of it, seeig what submissios are comig i ad how reviewers are evaluatig our mauscripts. I admit I m feelig a bit at a loss, suddely to have this extra time ad tryig to rebuild my research activities, although ulike previous editors of IOVS, I ve goe back to beig a member of the IOVS editorial board. Why did you put i so much time? I feel that that s what the job requires. Scietists work hard all the time. The mauscripts they sed us have ofte take moths or years of work, ad these are the raisos d être of their careers. They deserve rigorous ad fair evaluatios of their efforts. I ve bee impressed at how hardworkig our cotributors are, whether authors or reviewers. It s ot just that we would get reviews back from various time zoes all over the world; eve people withi the US would sed back reviews later at ight ad o weekeds. I d be workig late, I d dash off a ad a respose would come right back. I was impressed by that. If they work that hard, I felt I should do o less. How would you describe your approach to this role? This could be very much a mechaical process: you get the mauscripts, farm them out to the editorial board, which the farms them out to reviewers ad so o but I ever felt that was the way to do the job. I feel very strogly that the best way to edit a joural is to be as persoally ivolved as possible. There s o way oe perso could read 1,600 mauscripts a year. Nevertheless, I did wat to esure that everybody who submitted got a detailed ad fair judgmet o their submissios, ot a ureasoable or arbitrary oe. If people had quibbles about our decisio, we would take aother look ad give them a assessmet as to why the mauscript was t acceptable, to help their future efforts. O some occasios, we reversed our iitial decisio ad accepted a mauscript. Havig had my ow work rejected from time to time, as we all have, I felt it was icumbet o me to be as thorough as possible. I could t make everyoe happy, but I always tried to make sure that we aswered i as much detail as we could. What was the most difficult situatio you dealt with? Durig my time as EIC, there were o cases of gross malfeasace such as plagiarism from the work of others, or falsificatio of results, but issues of double publicatio, a ethical breach, would crop up ow ad the. With the Iteret ad olie medical libraries, it s become easy to see, for example, what someoe has published previously i Eglish or i other laguages. If a reviewer would detect this, both I ad at least oe other editorial board member would check this out ad, after we had discussed the matter thoroughly with ARVO officers ad staff, otify the author. Did your editorship give you ay special stadig amog members? Well, if a reviewer was late returig a mauscript ad the IOVS staff could t brig it back i with remider phoe calls or s, they d ask me to step i ad write to the reviewer. This always got a istat respose. I was rather impressed I ever realized the EIC had such awesome authority! How has the joural chaged durig the last five years? Oe major iovatio is that we started olie-oly submissio at the begiig of my editorship. IOVS was the first ophthalmic joural to do so. This has made a eormous differece i terms of time of review; our iitial review phase ow averages less tha oe moth. 16 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

17 OPHTHALMOLOGY & VISUAL SCIENCE Other chages icluded a ew cliical trials sectio as well as summaries of specific visio-related cofereces, usually oes with ARVO co-sposorship such as the aual ARVO-Pfizer symposia, the Idia-U.S. collaborative visio research iitiative, or the NEI-FDA Ophthalmic Cliical Trials ad Desig Edpoits symposium. Publicatio of these coferece summaries has bee somethig of a departure for IOVS ad a useful oe. How has the ature of the research submitted chaged durig this time? A major chage has bee the ature of geetic research. May people try to submit what are basically geetic case reports. Te years ago this was state-of-the-art research, owadays it s old hat, ad major iteratioal peer-reviewed jourals o loger publish it. What we re iterested i, for example, is the descriptio of etirely ew gees associated with disease, or the biochemical mechaisms by which gees cause disease, or populatio-based geetic studies. What other areas do you see evolvig? Geetics has certaily bee a major developmet area, both techologically ad theoretically. However, we eed to lear more about evirometal ad other iflueces o ocular disease, ad icreasigly we ll lear more about geetic susceptibility to disease ad multiple gee iteractios, i additio to direct, oe-to-oe relatioships betwee a particular gee ad a disease. Persoally, I m iterested i mechaisms producig, ad amelioratig, diabetic retiopathy. Although there s o doubt that chroic hyperglycemia is the major cause, there are also geetic iflueces here. What are they? I m also greatly iterested i AMD, its basic mechaisms, ad geetic ad evirometal iflueces. Aother itriguig area is the role of iflammatio as a acceleratig factor, perhaps later o i the disease process. This is t the old-fashioed cocept of iflammatio, rubor, tumor, calor ad dolor this ivolves more subtle biochemical ad cellmediated processes. ophthalmologists. I hope we ca get some more cliically relevat papers i the future. What do you pla to do ow that you have more free time? I ll cotiue to be ivolved i my ow cliical ad basic laboratory research, although it may be hard to start up agai give the curret fudig eviromet. Of course I ll cotiue to teach ad I ll be servig o the IOVS editorial board. Maybe I ll eve cosider takig it a little easy, although that s ot bee my tedecy i the past! IOVS Earlier access to the latest research Startig i Jauary, IOVS is usig Publish- Ahead-of-Prit so that subscribers ca read the latest research as soo as a article is accepted for publicatio. The joural will post peer-reviewed origial research articles olie upo acceptace. These articles will be i their origial uedited mauscript format. Each article will be fully searchable i PubMed ad fully citeable with its ow Digital Object Idetifer (DOI). Ay fial thoughts? IOVS has had very good editors, amog them some of the most distiguished figures i visio research. They iclude Berie Becker, Herb Kaufma, Ala Laties, Steve Podos, Terry Erest, Harry Quigley ad Jerry Chader. It has bee a privilege to follow after them. The joural has grow ad prospered, ad I am proud to be a part of it Summer Eye Research Coferece Ivestigative Ophthalmology & Visual Sciece What challeges do you thik IOVS faces i the future? A short time ago, we looked at the ISI s Citatio Idex. IOVS has ejoyed a high rakig for may years but we are cited almost etirely by other ophthalmic research jourals. We are ot makig a impact o the rest of the scietific world. Ad I suspect that whe people have major cliical fidigs they are publishig them i Ophthalmology or Archives of Ophthalmology because they are read by the larger commuity of cliical Ocular Autoimmuity & Iflammatio July 31 August 2, 2008 Portola Plaza Hotel Moterey, Califoria ARVONews Witer/Sprig

18 Foudatio for Eye research (AFER) Why I Give By Joh E. Dowlig, PhD As a visio researcher for more tha half a cetury, I have witessed the extraordiary progress that we have made i our uderstadig of visual mechaisms ad eye disease. For the past six years, the ARVO Foudatio for Eye Research has bee essetial i fosterig research ad supportig the recruitmet ad retetio of the ext geeratio of researchers. Our travel grat program has brought to the Aual Meetig studets, residets ad youg scietists from all over the world, itroducig them to the excitemet of visio ad ophthalmic research. AFER programs promote the trasitio of scietific iovatios from the laboratory to the cliic ad itroduce ew breakthroughs to ARVO members from all areas of sciece. Each cotributio to AFER makes a differece i the quality of educatio ad iformatio set before our fellow researchers ad scietists. By makig a doatio, we are helpig AFER make a real impact i our fight to elimiate eye disease ad prevet blidess globally. I value the work of AFER ad ecourage you to show your appreciatio by makig a doatio today! New AFER site to beefit researchers AFER is redesigig our Web site i 2008 thaks to a geerous grat from Sirio Therapeutics. The ew site will feature up-to-date iformatio for visio scietists ad practitioers. The ew site will retai may familiar compoets, icludig door lists, iformatio about our workshops ad evets, award programs, ad olie givig. The curret AFER site, with details about the Foudatio ad our evets, will stay olie throughout the redesig phase. The ew Web site will debut later this sprig. The ARVO Foudatio for Eye Research ad Pfizer Ophthalmology salutes Joh E. Dowlig, PhD at the Frieds of Joh Dowlig Gala Dier o Saturday, April 26, :00pm Lago Mar Resort ad Club Fort Lauderdale, Florida Please joi us as for a special eveig before the ARVO Aual Meetig begis as we recogize Dr. Dowlig s tireless work ad ogoig support of AFER, alog with his may cotributios to visio research. Tickets ad tables are available for purchase startig i Jauary. A portio of the ticket proceeds will be doated to AFER, ad all ticket holders will be hoored as doors to the Frieds of Joh Dowlig Campaig. Commemorate this evet by becomig a part the distiguished Joh Dowlig Society, with a gift to AFER of $10,000 or more i Dr. Dowlig s hoor. For more iformatio ad ticket sales, or to doate to the Foudatio, cotact AFER at or pmoore@arvofoudatio.org 18 ARVONews Witer/Sprig

19 Foudatio for Eye research (AFER) Thakig supporters persoally Paris L.A. Moore, AFER s Director of Developmet, ad Joae Agle, ARVO s Executive Director, met with idividual ad corporate supporters durig the November 2007 America Academy of Ophthalmology meetig i New Orleas, LA. The pair thaked doors for their fiacial ad programmatic support ad discussed ew iitiatives. To lear more about AFER, or to make a major gift or log-term pledge, please cotact: Paris L.A. Moore Director of Developmet pmoore@arvofoudatio.org AFER s Paris L.A. Moore ackowledges the support of Robert Besthof ad Mauree Walters for the ARVO/ Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Istitute. Joae Agle, Executive Director of ARVO, met with Alice McPherso, PhD, who supports AFER travel grats. Pledge appeal Last year was AFER s best ever i terms of doatios ad programs but we would like to surpass ourselves i Your doatio of ay size will beefit the work of the Foudatio i support of research, professioal developmet ad cotiuig educatio. Here is how AFER could put your geerous gift to work: $1,500 allows a ew researcher to preset at the ARVO Aual Meetig $3,000 supports a visitig researcher from a developig coutry $5,000 cotributes to our professioal developmet program $7,500 fuds a Research Collaboratio Fellow $10,000 assists i developig the ext geeratio of ARVO leaders $35,000 establishes a edowed travel grat $50,000 or more ca help guaratee that AFER s work ca cotiue ito the future All doatios cotribute to the quality of AFER educatio ad programmig iitiatives. Wated: Hosts for iteratioal researchers at 2008 Aual Meetig ARVO is lookig for hosts to help several researchers from developig coutries make the most of the 2008 Aual Meetig (April 27 May 1 i Fort Lauderdale, FL). The researchers will be attedig the meetig uder the ew AFER- ARVO Host-a- Researcher Award Program. They come from Croatia, Ghaa, Lithuaia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia ad South Africa. The aim of the program is to help these researchers erich the research eterprise i their home coutries through the opportuity to see the latest developmets i visio research at the Aual Meetig. The 2008 Host-a-Researcher Award Program was made possible by cotributios from Al Noor Foudatio The role of hosts particularly if they have experiece i or are from the researchers home coutries is to offer advice, itroductios ad support before ad durig the meetig. Iterested i actig as a host? Cotact Rhoda Williams (rwilliams@arvo.org or ). If you would like to lear more about the Hosta-Researcher Program or makig a doatio to assist awardees i 2009, visit the AFER Web site ( or cotact Paris Moore ( , pmoore@arvofoudatio.org). The Glaucoma Foudatio Joyce Tombra-Tik, PhD The Kazickas Foudatio Merck & Compay, Ic. The Russia Nobility Associatio Tom Nuget ARVONews Witer/Sprig