Mountains of Gratitude: Supporting Macular Degeneration Research for Future Generations

When Fred Jacobson was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in his mid 70s, he was still leading tours as a professional mountain guide despite having faced retinal tears and bilateral knee replacements. While those medical challenges hadn’t rattled him much, AMD was different—Fred’s mother had developed the disease around the same age. As he and his sister witnessed their mother slowly lose her sight, dementia also stole her memory, so that every day she learned anew that she could no longer see. “It was shattering,” Fred recalled. “Through my mother’s experience, I was set up to be terrified by the whole idea of macular degeneration.”

Thanks to early detection during follow-up for his retinal repairs, and the use of anti-VEGF therapies, Fred’s worst fears didn’t materialize. He continued working until age 80, and today, at 88, continues to juggle multiple volunteer roles. “I’ve been treated for about 10 years with virtually no loss of vision,” he said. “I was, and continue to be, so grateful.”

When Fred learned about BrightFocus Foundation’s Macular Degeneration Research program, he was driven to pay that gratitude with ongoing support. “My philosophy is to be grateful for what’s good in your life and do what you can to make sure the next generation will have those advantages or more,” he said. “The contributions of people like me 20 years ago led to what helped me so much, and is still helping me.”

BrightFocus Foundation’s public information programs and resources also offer tremendous benefit, Fred said. “Not everybody has good doctors or even knows they should get regular eye exams. But BrightFocus makes information on how you can help protect your vision and eye health easily accessible to anyone. That’s a pretty good thing to support.”

“BrightFocus is doing great work,” Fred added. “I appreciate being informed of what’s going on, and I believe in what they’re doing. They’ve helped make huge breakthroughs already, and it seems they’re close to making even more.”

This story originally appeared in BrightFocus Foundation’s 2026 annual report.