Cell-based therapies for eye diseases remain an area of active research as organizations work to address the gap between available treatments and the prevalence of vision loss worldwide. Advancing Sight Network, an Alabama-based nonprofit, has received a $25,000 grant from the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham to purchase equipment for its new Cellular Research and Therapeutics Division.
Key Points
- The grant will fund specialized equipment to evaluate cells, which the organization states is a step toward growing cells for drug development to treat eye diseases. The long-term goal is to develop transplantable therapies that could prevent vision loss.
- Advancing Sight Network aims to provide human cell models for academic and industry researchers, addressing what the organization describes as a lack of availability in this area. The equipment is intended to enable production of standardized cells for vision researchers.
- The organization has provided donated eye tissue for sight-restoring transplants and research for over 50 years, with nearly 100,000 tissues recovered for transplant, research, and training during that period.
- Advancing Sight Network partners with research institutions including the University of Alabama at Birmingham to work on innovations in vision science. The organization operates from Birmingham with a regional network across the southern United States.
The equipment purchase represents an expansion of the organization’s activities from tissue recovery and distribution into cell-based research and potential therapeutic development.
The Data
- The grant amount is $25,000, provided jointly by the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama and the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.
- Approximately 90% of vision loss worldwide is preventable or treatable.
- Advancing Sight Network has operated for more than 50 years and has recovered nearly 100,000 tissues for transplant, research, and training purposes.
Industry Context
There is a lack of availability of human cell models for academic and industry researchers, and a growing need for cell-based transplantable therapies.
Dr. Gregory Grossman, Chief Scientific Officer at Advancing Sight Network
The organization frames the equipment purchase as addressing two needs: providing research-grade cell models to other investigators and working toward development of transplantable cell therapies. The organization has historically provided donated eye tissue for sight-restoring transplants. Moving into cell-based therapeutic development represents a different type of activity that involves drug development.
Barbara Evers, Executive Director of the EyeSight Foundation of Alabama, stated the foundation is hopeful the equipment will be helpful in developing additional transplantable therapies, characterizing such treatments as “desperately needed by people around the world.”
