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Watch this special message from Michael Gorin, MD, PhD, Chair of Macular Degeneration Research Scientific Review Committee.

Transcript
Hi, I’m Michael Gorin. I’m the chair of the MDR Scientific Research Committee, and I’m a professor of ophthalmology at UCLA.

I want to take a moment to thank you personally for your generosity in contributing to the BrightFocus Foundation.

I’ve been a member of this foundation for many, many years and very early in my career was a recipient of one of their grants, which was fundamental in my being able to explore the basic genetics of age-related macular degeneration that work, leading to many of the discoveries that we continue to pursue today and which have resulted in new therapies.

Because of scientists like me, we can pursue bold ideas that can protect the sight for the millions of people who are afflicted with age-related macular degeneration, as well as other inherited macular disorders.

The donations that you make really enable us to launch new ideas, new projects and innovative concepts that would not normally get funding from other sources. And yet those projects lead to advances and developments that then lead to further fund funding by federal and private sources that can lead to be translated into care for our patients.

We couldn’t do this work without you. This the funding now is more important than ever, because the restrictions on funding demand that our scientists really have the very best data, the very best information to be competitive, to receive grants to fund research in this field of age-related macular degeneration.

Your support has fueled studies that have helped us understand the fundamental causes of age- related macular degeneration, What are the factors that influence who is going to get it, and how it will progress and is leading us to vital information as to new therapies.

And in my own career, I have seen truly a revolution in our treatment of macular degeneration, where we went from laser therapy to treat choroid only avascular membranes, wet macular degeneration which resulted almost in instant legal blindness for our patients, to today, where we can be treating them with injections and other medications that have prolonged good quality sight for literally the duration of their lives.

February is Macular Degeneration Awareness month. Your gift can have twice the impact thanks to a special matching gift opportunity and every contribution, large or small, helps move sight saving research forward from all of us in the research community.

I am deeply grateful for your contributions to our work, and for enabling us to pursue our passion of trying to preserve the sight of our patients. Your generosity gives hope to scientists, to families, and to everyone living with macular degeneration, And I want to thank you for helping protect the gift of sight.