Blindness and visual impairment affect over 12 million Americans per year over the age of 40. Approximately 6.8% of children younger than 18 years in the United States have a diagnosed eye and vision condition. While some of these cases are the result of progressive illness for which there is no cure, even the seemingly impossible cases are not enough to stop The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, which recently established the Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center to End Blindness. 

Who Are Sanford and Susan Greenberg?

Sanford Greenberg is an inventor, entrepreneur, and founder of International Communication Associates. When he was an undergraduate student at Columbia University, he suffered from misdiagnosis and mistreatment of glaucoma, which eventually left him blind. His wife is one of the millions advocating on behalf of a lifelong partner struggling with blindness. Greenberg and his partners established the center to encourage (and fund) young ophthalmologists in their research toward a cure. The Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center hopes to revolutionize and expedite important research toward the treatment of vision loss. 

Why Was the Center Founded?

In addition to vision health being a deeply personal cause for Greenberg, he and his partners recognize the incredible, often years-long, lag that younger researchers experience when they apply for grant funding. Dr. Peter McDonnell, director and professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute, notes that compared to senior scientists, young scientists are less likely to get research funds in their early career: “What we want to do is get rid of those ten years where they are trying to get that grant and start them off right away and get their research underway in a robust fashion,” he said in an interview with the Johns Hopkins News-Letter. 

How It’s Going

The center is already making a significant impact in the mobilization of robust and ambitious research efforts. Dr. Thomas Johnson, a glaucoma specialist and an assistant professor in ophthalmology who has received funding from Greenberg, discusses how it’s allowed him to expand his research team and hasten his progress: “When you are starting off, the lab tends to be small. If you were able to add a major piece of equipment or one or two more personnel, that would have a dramatic impact on the productivity of that lab,” he said. “With the extra funds I received, I am able to hire another post-doctoral fellow and a lab technician that are going to double the productivity in my lab.” 

Where Does the Center Go From Here?

Johnson is spending his funding working toward regenerative therapies for glaucoma and other optic nerve diseases using stem cells; however, the center will be funding multiple research initiatives to address and positively impact eye health and vision preservation. Other researchers at Wilmer, for example, are studying new cures and therapies for macular degeneration and diabetes-related vision loss. 

*Zhao, A.  (2021, Oct. 26). Wilmer Eye Institute establishes Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center to End Blindness  https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2021/10/wilmer-eye-institute-establishes-sanford-and-susan-greenberg-center-to-end-blindness