The Glaucoma Foundation Grants

The Glaucoma Foundation Grants is sponsored by The Glaucoma Foundation. This program funds substantive glaucoma research, including investigation into the etiology, diagnosis, and/or treatment of glaucoma. A priority is given to novel proposals with a viable study hypothesis leading to impactful results.

Apply For A Grant - Glaucoma Research Foundation Shaffer Grants for Innovative Glaucoma Research are $60,000, one-year grants awarded ​to scientists and clinicians to fund projects that support new high-impact clinical, epidemiological and laboratory research based on our strategic research goals. Video: Attracting Diverse Research Talent to Glaucoma Science Janey L.

Wiggs, MD, PhD : As a Shaffer Grant advisor for the Glaucoma Research Foundation, I review grant applications that are sent in for funding and participate in the scientific review discussion panel for those grants. I’m involved in the field of glaucoma because I’m a glaucoma specialist that takes care of patients with glaucoma.

Taking care of patients with a disease is a great motivator for doing glaucoma research and for thinking about better ways for treating the disease. I have many patients who are always asking me questions like “why don’t these drops work better? ” or “why am I still continuing to lose vision?

,” and we actually don’t have good answers to those questions. But through glaucoma research we hope to find better treatments that will in fact at least slow the disease progression even more than is currently possible, or even possibly find a way to cure the disease.

I think it would be helpful if more people understood that the Glaucoma Research Foundation is very interested in developing new innovative areas of research, and that this can be accomplished through the pilot projects program (Shaffer Research Grants), that will allow young, new investigators to identify [research] areas that may blossom into bigger fields impacting glaucoma information and research in the future.

Researchers interested in applying for a Shaffer Grant must first submit a Preliminary Proposal for consideration. Preliminary Proposals are accepted annually from June 1 to July 15. We accept proposals from all countries.

Applicants will be notified about the status of their proposals by August and those approved to submit a full grant application will receive further instructions. Grant applicants must possess a graduate degree and must not have received a Shaffer Grant within the prior three years.

Grant recipients agree to: Acknowledge Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) in papers and abstracts resulting from GRF-funded research and forward copies of each publication to GRF. Provide a final progress report and pdf poster summarizing the results of the project. Submit a financial statement at the end of the grant cycle.

Return to Glaucoma Research Foundation any unexpended funds at the end of the grant cycle. Shaffer Grant Focus Areas When completing your application, please indicate which of the following six areas is the primary focus of your grant.

identifying glaucoma-related genes; or, improving understanding and/or treatment for pediatric/congenital/juvenile glaucoma; or, describing how genetic variants influence glaucoma risk and/or progression Neuroprotection/Regeneration/Enhancement exploring the mechanisms that lead to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration in glaucoma prolonging RGC function and survival encouraging RGC axon regrowth Therapeutics/Drug Delivery developing new molecules or delivery systems that improve upon current standard of care engineering new mechanisms of therapeutic delivery exploring cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in aqueous humor outflow pathways creation of novel preclinical models to explore intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering treatments improving ways to lower IOP investigating how neuroinflammation and “support cells” like astrocytes and microglia contribute to the death of RGC exploring role of glial activation in glaucomatous neurodegeneration using outcomes data to determine risk factors and developing tools to accurately detect and monitor glaucoma progress standardizing tools to assess glaucoma phenotypes establishing consensus definitions for disease states Core Values of Shaffer Grants Involve people with glaucoma in the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs.

Encourage collaboration among experts in many fields of study. Communicate research goals and results to the scientific community and the public. Ensure that new glaucoma treatments maintain or improve individuals’ quality of life.

Encourage innovative clinical trial studies and laboratory research. Develop cell and animal models of glaucoma to support research studies. Facilitate and support the development of physician-scientists to advance glaucoma research.

Equipment exceeding $12,000 (waivers may be granted on a case-by-case basis) Salaries for principal investigators and co-investigators Projects with overt commercial applications General lab supplies used for daily purposes such as swabs, gloves, etc. Indirect costs, including overhead Glaucoma Research Foundation does not accept ​unsolicited grant applications or applications from for profit corporations.

Applications sent to our office will not be reviewed or returned. For additional information on Glaucoma Research Foundation grant programs, please contact us .