Leading Alzheimer's and Vision Disease Scientists and Advocates Recognized by BrightFocus

Featured guests and performers included Master of Ceremonies Richard Lui, journalist and news anchor for MSNBC and NBC News. Special Guest was Sunny Hostin, co-host of The View and Senior Legal Correspondent for ABC News. Musicians Julian Raymond, Bennett Salvay, and Jimmy Webb gave a special performance.

Receiving awards:

James Keach, Director, Producer, and Actor/PCH Films, received the BrightFocus Public Leadership Award, for his films exploring Alzheimer's disease and the search for a cure.

Four scientists received the prestigious Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research, selected by a committee of the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, for the scientists' collaboration on the first human cancer suppression gene. They are:

• Webster Cavenee, PhD, University of California—San Diego;
• Thaddeus Dryja, MD, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary;
• Brenda Gallie, MD, University of Toronto;
• Linn A. Murphree, MD, University of Southern California.

Rachel Bennett, PhD, of Harvard Medical School, was recognized as an Emerging Researcher.

Six scientists funded by BrightFocus grants shared their latest findings, on subjects ranging from the study of brain circulation and Alzheimer's disease, to targeting inflammation as a new way to treat glaucoma, and connecting diet to gut bacteria and eye health. The featured scientists came from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Tufts University, University of California—San Francisco, University of Pennsylvania, and Weill Cornell Medical College.

BrightFocus funds nearly 200 projects around the globe, a $40 million investment that the foundation believes will one day end these diseases. "These scientists are relentless in pursuing the untried, the unexpected, and the most promising paths toward cures," says Haller.

BrightFocus Foundation

BrightFocus Foundation is a premier source of private research funding to defeat Alzheimer's, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.  We support bold, innovative science and share the latest research findings and best practices to empower families impacted by these diseases.   For more information, visit www.BrightFocus.org

This content was first posted on: June 7, 2018

SOURCE BrightFocus Foundation

Related Links

https://www.brightfocus.org