BrightFocus Foundation Awards Nearly $13M to 50 Scientists for Alzheimer’s, Macular Degeneration, and Glaucoma Research

CLARKSBURG, Md. (May 13, 2025)—Private research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation today announced nearly $13 million in grants to support early investigative research into Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. This includes $7.3 million to its Alzheimer’s Disease Research program, $3.8 million to its Macular Degeneration Research program, and $1.8 million to its National Glaucoma Research program.

Guided by scientific advisory committees  of world-renowned researchers in the field, 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. This year’s grants were awarded to scientists in 10 countries.

“This year’s grant awards represent some of the boldest, most cutting-edge ideas in vision and brain health research,” said BrightFocus President and CEO Stacy Pagos Haller. “With recent major cuts to federal research funding, private foundations like BrightFocus are more essential than ever—stepping up to keep promising research alive, nurture early-career scientists, and accelerate breakthroughs.”

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

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.

Alzheimer’s Disease Research

Over 7 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive, terminal brain disorder that has no known cause or cure. Unless scientists can unlock the secrets of this disease, the number of cases is expected to triple by the year 2050. Grant recipients are studying a range of approaches spanning different areas of the brain and body to better understand the disease’s onset and progression.

Alzheimer’s Disease Research grant recipients:

Katerina Akassoglou, PhD
The J. David Gladstone Institutes

Federica Anastasi, PhD
BarcelonaβetaBrain Research Center (Spain)

Isabelle Aubert, PhD
Sunnybrook Research Institute (Canada)

Daniel Bos, MD, PhD
Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (Netherlands)

Todd J. Cohen, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Joshua Emmerson, PhD
Washington University in St. Louis

Ghazaleh Eskandari-Sedighi, PhD
University of California, Irvine

Anllely Fernandez, PhD
Indiana University

Hongjun Fu, PhD
The Ohio State University

Laura Fumagalli, PhD
Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (Belgium)

John Hardy, PhD, FRS
University College London (U.K.)

Joseph Herdy, PhD
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Sarah Elise Heuer, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Jack Humphrey, PhD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Ksenia Kastanenka, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital

Jr-Jiun Liou, PhD
University of Pittsburgh

Jae-eun Miller, PhD
Columbia University

Miguel Moutinho, PharmD, PhD
Indiana University

Carolina Ochoa-Rosales, PhD
Adolfo Ibáñez University (Chile)

Omar Peña-Ramos, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine

Cyril Pottier, PhD
Washington University in St. Louis

Marcos Schaan Profes, PhD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Nader Saffari, PhD, MSc, BSc
University College London (U.K.)

Monica Santisteban, PhD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Feng Tian, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Rebecca Wallings, DPhil
Indiana University

Justyna Dobrowolska Zakaria, PhD
Northwestern University – Chicago Campus

Damian Zuloaga, PhD
University at Albany

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. Grant recipients are exploring a wide range of innovative scientific approaches, from exploring ways to regenerate damaged cells to determining the influence of early-life events and lifestyle factors on disease risk.

Macular Degeneration Research grant recipients:

Mohajeet Balveer Bhuckory, PhD
Stanford University School of Medicine

Ana J. Chucair-Elliott, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Charles DeBoer, MD, PhD
Stanford University School of Medicine

Ashley Farre, PhD
University of Idaho

Valencia Fernandes, PhD
University of California, San Francisco

Masayuki Hata, MD, PhD
Kyoto University (Japan)

Ruchi Sharma, PhD
National Eye Institute, NIH

Nobuhiko Shiraki, PhD
Duke University School of Medicine

Daisy Yao Shu, PhD
University of New South Wales (Australia)

Jerzy Szablowski, PhD
William Marsh Rice University

Amir Mani Varnoosfaderani, PhD
University of Chicago

Joëlle Elise Vergroesen, PhD
Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam (Netherlands)

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. Although there is no cure, early detection and treatments can help slow the disease’s progression.

Grant recipients are investigating a wide range of scientific approaches, including novel treatments, early detection methods, and efforts to protect and regenerate retinal ganglion cells that could preserve or restore vision.

National Glaucoma Research grant recipients:

Brad Fortune, OD, PhD
Legacy Research Institute

Tatjana Jakobs, MD
Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear

Colleen McDowell, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rob Nickells, PhD
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Gavin Roddy, MD, PhD
Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, PhD
University of California, Irvine

Dan Stamer, PhD
Duke University

Karl Jonas Wahlin, PhD
University of California, San Diego – Health Sciences

Pete Williams, PhD
Karolinska Institute (Sweden)

Benjamin Xu, MD, PhD
University of Southern California

BrightFocus encourages researchers with groundbreaking ideas to apply for a 2026 grant. Application information is available at  brightfocus.org/apply.