AMDF / RPB Catalyst Award

AMDF / RPB Catalyst Award is sponsored by American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) and Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. (RPB). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Catalyst Award for Innovative Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration - Research to Prevent Blindness Dry eye is a chronic medical condition that develops when the eye's tear film does not lubricate and protect the eye's outer surface.

RPB Medical Student Fellow Works To Improve Glaucoma Detection RPB Catalyst Award for Innovative Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration The Catalyst Awards for Innovative Research Approaches for Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) will provide funds to researchers who are working on novel approaches to understanding or treating AMD.

Ideally, at least one of the awards given will focus on a translational project – clinically relevant research that could lead to therapeutics or treatment for AMD – not yet in clinical trials. American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) Dr. H. James and Carole Free*** International Retinal Research Foundation (IRRF) to co-fund the Catalyst Awards.

One award will be given with each partner. A wide range of applications will be considered to improve the understanding of AMD and/or to develop novel treatments for dry or wet forms of AMD.

Example projects include but are not limited to AMD genetics and pathogenesis; predictive models of AMD development; new animal and in vitro models that can be used to study features in AMD; prevention of retinal degeneration; new methods of diagnosis or tracking AMD progression; metabolic factors in AMD; stem cell treatment of retinal degeneration; optogenetics; and therapeutics-delivery – or other treatment – innovations.

These Catalyst Awards are intended to provide seed money to proposed high-risk / high-gain vision science research, which is innovative, cutting-edge, and demonstrates out-of-the-box thinking. The Catalyst Award will not fund: incremental extensions of previously or currently funded research by the NEI, NIH, other government agencies, non-profits, private funders, etc. or research that does not have a direct connection to AMD.

This award is available to researchers from any institution of higher education in the U.S. Department chairs (including interim or acting chairs) can nominate one candidate holding a primary academic position as Assistant Professor through full Professor (MD, PhD, MD/PhD or equivalent doctoral degree). Candidates must not provide less than 5% effort for the proposed research. Applicants must be nominated by their Department Chair.

Please note: applications received without a prior nomination form will not be accepted. Candidates can access the nomination and application forms below. Word versions of all 2026 grant applications can also be accessed via this link (7 files will download; please be sure to use the specific file that corresponds to the grant to which you’re applying): https://we.

tl/t-AEX6XhM1xLPwRsmH Download Catalyst Award Application Frequently Asked Questions Am I eligible for a grant? Each RPB grant has different eligibility criteria, which is detailed on the relevant grant webpage. If you have questions about the eligibility details, please reach out to us; we’re happy to help.

Do I need to be at an RPB-supported department to get an individual research award?

While a few of our RPB individual awards (RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship, RPB Career Development Award, and the RPB Physician-Scientist Award) are restricted to departments that have an RPB Unrestricted or Challenge grant, the majority of our awards are open to researchers at any academic medical center in the U.S. The reason that the three awards mentioned above are restricted to RPB-supported departments is that our Departmental Grantees undergo an extremely rigorous peer-review process.

The environment and leadership at these departments have met our stringent criteria and are appropriate venues for the research being conducted by these early- and mid-career researchers, giving us assurance that they will receive outstanding support and mentorship. If you are not sure if your department has a Departmental Grant, visit our current grantees here . Do you fund outside the U.S.?

No, all of our grants are awarded to researchers or departments of ophthalmology at U.S.-based academic medical centers. The RPB International Researcher Collaborators Award supports collaboration between U.S. and outside-the-U.S. researchers; however, the award is made to the U.S. academic medical center, which can then disperse the funds as needed to support the project collaboration.

I received an email about a grant requirement (Year-End Report, Financial Report, Progress Report, etc.). Who do I contact? For Financial Reports and Progress Reports, please contact Director of Grants Management MariaClaudia Lora-Montana ( mlora@rpbusa.

org ). For Year-End Reports (photos, research summaries and bibliographies), please contact Jo Casella ( jcasella@rpbusa. org ).

For more information about all RPB grant requirements, visit our helpful RPB Reports page . I’m a grantee and I published or presented (or plan to publish or present) a paper or poster. Who should I contact?

We love to help promote our grantees’ work! Please reach out to Director of External Affairs Diana Friedman ( dfriedman@rpbusa. org or 646-892-9565 ) to share your good news.

MariaClaudia Lora-Montano Director of Grants Management