Dr. Meysam Yazdankhah receives a highly competitive grant from The Knights Templar Eye Foundation for his work on the role of astrocytes in persistent fetal vasculature disease.
The Knights Templar Eye Foundation, incorporated in 1956, is a charity sponsored by the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar. The original mission of the Foundation was "to provide assistance to those who face loss of sight due to the need for surgical treatment without regard to race, color, creed, age, sex or national origin provided they are unable to pay or receive adequate assistance from current government agencies or similar sources and to provide funds for research in curing diseases of the eye."
On December 31, 2010, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Inc., by direction of the board, shifted the Foundation's focus and adopted a new mission statement "to improve vision through research, education, and supporting access to care." The Foundation now only participates in direct patient care through the Seniors Eye Care Program in partnership with EyeCare America and the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. With this change, the Foundation is benefitting untold millions in generations to come through grants that support research and education.
Since its inception, the Foundation has expended over $148 million on research, patient care, and education. Research grants totaling in excess of $24 million have been awarded to researchers working in the fields of pediatric ophthalmology and ophthalmic genetics. More information on the Knights Templar Eye Foundation can be found here: http://www.knightstemplar.org/ktef/ From the 2018 report:
