Donor Support Powers New $15M Investment in 62 Scientists Tackling Alzheimer's, Macular Degeneration, and Glaucoma

CLARKSBURG, Md. (April 21, 2026)— BrightFocus Foundation today announced $15.2 million in new research grants for Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, reinforcing its commitment to advancing scientific discovery amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding federal funding. This includes $8.5 million to its Alzheimer’s Disease Research program, $4.5 million to its Macular Degeneration Research program, and $2.2 million to its National Glaucoma Research program.

This year’s portfolio reflects a broad range of innovative approaches—from leveraging artificial intelligence to improve earlier detection and treatment of brain and eye diseases to advancing regenerative science and uncovering sex-based differences that may shape disease risk and treatment. Grants were awarded to 62 scientists in seven countries.

“Following a tumultuous year for federal research funding that has unsettled the scientific community, BrightFocus Foundation and its donors remain laser focused on maintaining support and momentum for scientific progress. We are proud to support this exceptional group of researchers and their bold, cutting-edge ideas in eye and brain health,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller.

The newly awarded research projects were vetted by scientific advisory committees  of world-renowned researchers in the field.

“It is difficult to obtain federal funding for early-stage, high-risk ideas, which is why it is so important for BrightFocus to fund in this area. Such awards often facilitate generation of new data that then allows the scientists to apply for much larger grants from agencies such as the NIH,” said David Holtzman, MD, co-chair of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Scientific Review Committee and a professor of neurology and director of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. “It has been more difficult over the last two years to obtain federal funding for new and emerging investigators. BrightFocus funding is both stimulating new, great science and also ensuring that our most promising new investigators stay in science.”

BrightFocus invests in highly innovative, experimental research and creative ideas with the most promise to foster a better understanding of disease onset, improve early detection and diagnosis, develop new treatments, and—ultimately—lead to cures.

BrightFocus-funded research has laid the groundwork for many innovations in use today, including more accurate biomarkers to detect Alzheimer’s disease in the blood; development of the optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging test—the gold standard for diagnosing eye diseases like glaucoma and macular degeneration; and a first-of-its-kind AI model that could detect Alzheimer’s by reading retina images.

BrightFocus Foundation’s research programs are supported entirely by individual donor contributions from the public and corporate and foundation grants; BrightFocus receives no government funding. Learn more about how to support our work.

Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Over 7 million Americans 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, terminal brain disorder and leading cause of dementia that has no known cause or cure. Alzheimer’s Disease Research is funding studies exploring a wide range of scientific approaches spanning different areas of the brain and body—from the role of tau and other misfolded proteins in the brain to the gut microbiome and lifestyle factors like sleep and exercise—to better understand the disease’s onset and progression.

2026 Alzheimer’s Disease Research grant recipients:

Alyssa Ash, PhD, Burke Neurological Institute  (Weill Cornell Medicine)
Assessing Brain Dysfunction in Early Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

Caleb Bailey, PhD, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky
Defining Metabolic Contributions to Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease

Shamchal  Bakavayev, PhD, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Using Gene Editing to Map Pooled Alzheimer’s Mutations Across Brain Cells

Fikri Birey, PhD, Emory University
Probing the Novel Roles of Neuromodulators in Alzheimer’s Disease

Yifei Cai, PhD, Yale University
Uncovering Mechanisms of Myelin-Axon Pathology in Alzheimer’s Disease

Laura Cox, PhD,  Brigham  and Women’s Hospital
Optimizing Probiotic Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Paula Alejandra  Desplats, PhD, Ohio State University
Circadian Rhythm Disruption May Harm Myelinating Cells in Alzheimer’s

Eleanor Drummond, PhD, The University of Sydney  (Australia)
Early Protein Drivers of Alzheimer’s Disease

Claudia Duran-Aniotz, PhD, Adolfo Ibáñez  University  (Chile)
Social and Lifestyle Factors’ Impact on Dementia Biomarkers in Latin America
Co-Principal Investigators: Agustín Ibáñez, PhD; Andrea Slachevsky, MD, PhD; Hernando Santamaría-García, MD, PhD; Martin Alejandro Bruno, PhD & Nilton Custodio, PhD

Hugo Fernandes, PhD, University of Oxford  (U.K.)
Understanding Changes in Fat Metabolism in Alzheimer’s Disease
Co-Principal Investigators: Albert Koulman, PhD & Jonathon Nixon-Abell, PhD

Gilbert Gallardo, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Suppressing Brian Inflammation to Delay Alzheimer’s Disease

Cellas  Hayes, PhD, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky
Tracking Myelin and Alzheimer’s Blood Biomarkers to Explain Brain Lesions

Matthias  Hebisch, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
Modeling Dementia in Brain Organoids with Alzheimer’s Disease

Martin Hsu, PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Uncovering a Protein in Astrocytes that Drives Alzheimer’s Disease

Heidi Jacobs, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
Dorsal Raphe Nucleus: Seam for Earliest Detection of Tau and Symptoms

Selene  Lomoio, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sina
A Human Platform to Decode Brain Changes in Alzheimer’s Disease
Co-Principal Investigator: Valentina Fossati, PhD

Amanda McQuade, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Understanding How Genetic Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease Impacts Immune Function

Sarah Ocañas, PhD, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
The Ovary-Brain Inflammatory Axis in Alzheimer’s Disease
Co-Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Mason, PhD

Daniel Panyard, PhD, Stanford University
Identifying How Cardiovascular Disease Affects Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

Justin Perry, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Does Fructose Drive Neurodegenerative Disease?

Dominika Pilat, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
A Nasal Route to Deliver RNA-Based Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease

Saima Rathore, PhD, Emory University
AI-Informed Signature of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias to Model Longitudinal Disease Trajectories
Co-Principal Investigators: Allan I. Levey, MD, PhD and Nicholas Seyfried, PhD

Austin Reynolds, PhD, University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
Genetic Ancestry Impacts Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Alzheimer’s Disease
Co-Principal Investigators: Nicole Phillips, PhD, and Robert Clinton Barber, PhD

Leonardo Rivera- Rivera, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Evaluating Cerebral Small Vessel Disease in Alzheimer’s with MRI

Vladislava Segen, PhD, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (Germany)
Using Navigation to Detect Early Changes in Alzheimer’s Disease

Gowoon  Son, PhD, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville
Why Alzheimer’s Disease Targets Some Cells First: A Driver in the Anterior Hypothalamus

Vivek Swarup, PhD, University of California, Irvine
Beyond Pathology: Mapping How Some Brains Stay Sharp in Extreme Old Age

Christina  Theodoris, MD, PhD, Gladstone Institutes
Mapping How Brain Cells Change Over Aging to Predict Therapeutic Targets

Tomas Vikner, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Cerebrospinal Fluid Flow Dynamics in Alzheimer’s Disease

Jennifer Sachiko Yokoyama, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Autoimmune Contributions to Alzheimer’s Disease
Co-Principal Investigator: Joseph J. Sabatino, MD, PhD

Keir Yong, PhD, University College London (U.K.)
Visual System Vulnerability in Dementia: From Detection to Determinants
Co-Principal Investigators: André Altmann, PhD and David M. Cash, PhD

QI Zhang, PhD, Emory University
Uncovering New Early Detection Markers for Alzheimer’s Disease

Haoyue Zhou, PhD, Gladstone Institutes
How Blood Proteins Influence Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Disease

Macular Degeneration Research

Twenty million U.S. adults have macular degeneration—the leading cause of vision loss in Americans aged 65 and older. Early detection and treatment are crucial to slowing the disease progression and preventing permanent vision loss. Macular Degeneration Research grant recipients are exploring a wide range of innovative scientific approaches to prevent, treat, and cure macular degeneration—from developing novel methods to model AMD to investigating potential new treatments for both dry and wet AMD.

2026 Macular Degeneration Research grant recipients:

Ryoji Amamoto, PhD, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (Harvard)
Promoting Cone Survival in Dry AMD

Marco Bassetto, PharmD, PhD, University of California, Irvine
Development of a New Drug Delivery System to Treat Retinal Inflammation

Celia Bisbach, PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Targeting and Removing Harmful Proteins to Treat Wet AMD

Suman Chaudhary, PhD, Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear
A Novel Antioxidant Therapy for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Mark Draelos, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
Studying Eye Blood Flow During Exercise Stress Tests

Anaïs Françon, PhD, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (Canada)
Role of Lack of Sleep in Blood Vessel Formation in Retinal Degeneration

Petra Larsen, MD, PhD, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (Germany)
Mapping the Molecular-Imaging Interface in AMD: A Multimodal Approach

Eric (Xiang) Ma, PhD, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation
Protecting Choroidal Blood Vessels to Prevent Vision Loss in AMD

Jason Miller, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
RPE Lipid Degradation and Secretion in Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Sarah Palko, PhD, Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)
Understanding How Müller Glia Contribute to Immune Cell Accumulation in AMD

Estelle (Sunghee) Park, PhD, Purdue University
Uncovering the Hidden Link Between Liver Health and Macular Degeneration

Amir Vahabikashi, PhD, Northeastern University
Human Retina-on-a-Chip: A Next-Generation Model for Age-Related Macular Degeneration

David Veysset, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard)
Advancing AMD Diagnosis with Novel Spectroscopic Tools

Lily (Wenjing) Wu, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Targeting Age-Related Vision Loss with the Power of Essential Fats

National Glaucoma Research

Around 4 million U.S. adults have glaucoma—a leading cause of blindness in the U.S. caused by damage to the optic nerve. Because there are often no early symptoms, as many as half of those affected may not even know they have it until irreversible vision loss has occurred. Early detection and treatments can help slow the disease’s progression.

National Glaucoma Research grant recipients are investigating a wide range of scientific approaches, including leveraging artificial intelligence to promote earlier detection and better identify who’s most at risk, developing novel treatments, and exploring ways to protect and regenerate the optic nerve that could restore vision.

2026 National Glaucoma Research grant recipients:

Navid Amini, PhD, California State University, Los Angeles
How Glaucoma Patients Lift Their Feet and Use Smart Insoles to Walk Safely

Revathi Balasubramanian, PhD, Columbia University
How Schlemm’s Canal Develops and What Goes Awry in Pediatric Glaucoma

Evan Cameron, PhD, Cleveland Clinic – Lerner Research Institute
Understanding Astrocyte-Immune Cell Signaling in Glaucoma

Mark Christopher, PhD, University of California, San Diego
Agentic Multimodal AI System for Glaucoma Management

Qi Cui, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Myeloid Cellular Responses in Hypertensive Glaucoma

Luca Della Santina, PhD, PharmD, University of Houston
Using AI to Detect Loss of Connections Between Cells in the Eye

Stuart Gardiner, PhD, Good Samaritan Foundation (Legacy Health System)
Measuring the Effects of Visual Stimuli on Retinal Blood Vessels and Flow

Catia Gomes, PhD, Indiana University
Targeting Glial-Mediated Neuroinflammation to Prevent Axonal Degeneration in Glaucoma

Tyson Kim, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Measuring Aqueous Outflow Dynamics Continuously in the Living Eye

Josh (Kiyoharu) Miyagishima, PhD, National Eye Institute, NIH
Cell-Free Biological Therapies to Prevent Vision Loss
Co-Principal Investigator: Francisco Manuel Nadal-Nicolas, PhD

Yvonne Ou, MD, University of California, San Francisco
The Role of Activity in Retinal Circuit Plasticity and Repair in Glaucoma

Myoungsup Sim, PhD, Duke University
Cilia-Driven Nitric Oxide Pathways as a New Strategy for Glaucoma

Jeremy Sivak, PhD, University Health Network (Canada)
Spatial Responses to Elevated Pressure in the Human Optic Nerve Head

Monica Vetter, PhD, University of Utah
Understanding Immune Changes in the Optic Nerve Head in Glaucoma
Co-Principal Investigator: Navita Lopez, PhD

Nazlee Zebardast, MD, MPH, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Using AI to Discover the Genes That Drive Glaucoma Progression

A complete list of the new research projects will be available this summer on BrightFocus’ website, with additional details forthcoming upon the completion of individual agreements with the partnering institutions and scientists.

All grants will be awarded pending completion of individual agreements with partnering institutions and scientists.

BrightFocus encourages researchers with groundbreaking ideas to apply for a 2027 grant. Application information is available at  brightfocus.org/apply.

Media Contact

Julia S. Roth, BrightFocus Foundation
Jroth@brightfocus.org