How Early Research Funding Is Transforming Glaucoma Detection

Millions of Americans get regular eye exams every year. During the visit, your doctor positions you at a machine that looks like a camera on a stand. You rest your chin and look into the machine, staring at a small green light, watching as faint lines or flickers appear. Your doctor shows you 3D scans — but this time they point out early signs of glaucoma.

This imaging technique, called optical coherence tomography (OCT), is now the gold standard for diagnosing diseases like glaucoma — often before vision loss begins. OCT imaging is found in nearly every eye doctor’s office in the U.S., making it a routine part of comprehensive eye exams.

Early detection means a better chance of preserving sight, independence, and life’s everyday moments, like reading a book or watching a sunset. For those with glaucoma, it can be the difference between seeing those moments and missing them forever.

A visionary investment

Revolutionary breakthroughs like this technology are created over decades. In 1995, BrightFocus Foundation‘s National Glaucoma Research program funded an early-career eye doctor with an interest in glaucoma. He would go on to receive several research grants from BrightFocus and be among the research team that discovered and rapidly developed OCT imaging.

An early investment in a young researcher who catalyzed a revolutionary change in glaucoma detection. A series of yeses that over many years would come to raise the standard of care for every person who goes to the eye doctor each year. We need scientists who think big and bring new ideas to the table. They need support from people who have the foresight to say yes.

The next breakthrough starts here

Thanks to the support of hundreds of individual donors, BrightFocus’ National Glaucoma Research program funds innovative science to prevent — and, one day, even reverse — vision loss. From optic nerve regeneration and gene editing to stem cell therapies and lifestyle interventions, our grantees are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. With over $50 million in research grants awarded to scientists worldwide, National Glaucoma Research is committed to advancing the next generation of sight-saving discoveries.

We owe it to the millions at risk of losing their sight to continue saying yes to the next wave of innovative ideas. Because every breakthrough begins with believing in what’s possible.

Learn more about our work to defeat glaucoma and access free resources about diagnosis, treatment, risk reduction, and more at www.brightfocus.org/NGR.