Research To Prevent Blindness, Inc.

RPB Medical Student Eye Research Fellowships (MSFs) allow gifted students to take a year off from medical school and devote time to the pursuit of a research project within an RPB-supported Department of Ophthalmology, under the guidance of a mentor (a faculty researcher). The MSF is designed to give medical students a high-quality research experience working on a meaningful project, in a well-vetted lab. The goal of the MSF is to attract an outstanding, diverse pool of medical students to the field of vision research. Under-represented minority students are particularly encouraged to apply for an MSF.

RPB Career Development Awards (CDAs) help recruit outstanding early-career MDs, PhDs, or MD/PhDs to eye research and supports them in making critical discoveries prior to their first major research grant (the RO1) from the National Institutes of Health. This $350,000 award allows talented vision researchers to launch their careers as independent investigators, with the support of a mentorship team. The researchers ask much-needed questions related to a wide variety of sight-threatening conditions and gather the data needed to answer those questions and to inform future research.

RPB celebrated the CDA’s 30th anniversary in 2019. At that point, RPB had awarded 203 CDAs at a cost of $40 million. Those award recipients went on to garner more than $1 billion in follow-on funding from the federal government, an astounding 25:1 return on investment. This is an indication of the high level of work being performed through the award program and the ability of early-career funding to inform critical research that takes place for many years to come, as well as to launch and sustain research careers.

RPB Stein Innovation Awards provide funds to researchers in the ophthalmology department and other relevant departments with a common goal of understanding the visual system and the diseases that compromise its function. This $300,000 Award prioritizes truly innovative research that is cutting-edge and has not previously (and is not currently) funded by any other entity. The Award, named after RPB's founder, Dr. Jules Stein, is designed to catalyze new knowledge and new treatments avenues for all sight-threatening conditions.

RPB Physician-Scientist Awards promote the clinical and/or basic science research of clinicians, recognizing that physician-scientists bring special talents to the field of vision research, including their clinical knowledge and compassion, and a motivation to directly impact patients through their work. This $300,000 Award funds the highest-quality vision research being undertaken by physician-scientists.