Fairfax, VA – The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Foundation today inaugurated its annual research funding program by awarding ten $5,000 grants.

“The Foundation’s research program seeks to advance the science and practice of ophthalmology, and encourage young ophthalmologists to become active in research.  By doing so, we better serve our patients and our profession,” said I. Howard Fine, ASCRS Foundation President. 

Grant recipients are required to report their findings in a paper or a poster at a future ASCRS Symposium. 

The inauguration of the research program now means that the Foundation is active in all of its three program areas: research, public education, and charity through the opening of the Robert M. Sinskey Pediatric Eye Clinic in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Fine said.

The winning applicants and their research topics are:

APPLICANT:
Asad Abbas, MD, Beaumont, Texas
TITLE:
Immediate intra-operative aqueous fluid sample cultures after in vitro contamination with staphylococcus epidermidis: A comparison of patients receiving Gatifloxacin and Moxifloxacin preoperatively.     
PERIOD:

APPLICANT: Guy Kleinmann, MD, Salt Lake City, Utah
TITLE: Hydrophilic acrylic IOLs as a drug delivery system.
PERIOD: March – July, 2005

APPLICANT: Q. Jocelyn Ge, MD, PhD, New Orleans, Louisiana
TITLE: Preliminary results on p-HEMA hydrogel as drug-delivery contact lens in a rabbit model.
PERIOD: 12 months

APPLICANT: Shlomit Schaal, MD, Haifa, Isreal
TITLE: Mechanisms of oxygen induced cataract.
PERIOD: 12 months

APPLICANT: Rolando Toyos, MD, Jackson, Tennessee
TITLE: Intense pulse broadband light: A novel treatment for dry eye syndrome.
PERIOD: January – March 2005

APPLICANT: Amir Pirouzian, MD, FAAO, San Diego, California
TITLE: Limbal relaxing corneal incisions in pediatric population: Does decreasing anisometropic astigmatism reduce amblyopia and enhance the compliance to therapy?
PERIOD:  May 2005 – March 2006

APPLICANT: Jacob J. Moore, MD, Augusta, Georgia
TITLE: Hybridization of soft tissues with photopolymerized methacrylates: A novel adhesive in ocular surgery.
PERIOD: June – December 2005

APPLICANT: Renee Solomon, MD, New York, New York
TITLE: A prospective multi-center controlled study of laser in situ keratomileusis and photorefractive keratectomy in the treatment of post-keratoplasty refractive errors.
PERIOD: One Year

APPLICANT: Gaston O. Lacayo, III, MD, Chicago, Illinois
TITLE: Prospective evaluation of PRK with MMC vs. Epi-Lasik in the development of corneal haze.
PERIOD: May 2005 - May 2006

APPLICANT: Nathan Radcliffe, MD, New York, New York
TITLE: Central corneal thickness, race, and myopia
PERIOD: May – December 2005