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  • Funding Innovations in Medicine and Creating Lasting Legacies

    Foundation
    Former Academy CEO H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, was honored at the Orbital Gala for his years of dedicated service to the Academy. Dr. Hoskins and his wife, Ann, invested $100,000 to launch the new Hoskins Center IRIS Registry Research Fund.

    Academy members, corporations and friends were instrumental in driving a successful year of fundraising to support the Academy Foundation’s educational, quality-of-care and service programs. In 2017, we raised more than $4.5 million in support of key programs including the Ophthalmic News and Education (ONE) Network, global outreach programs, the EyeCare America® program and the Museum of Vision®.

    Orbital Gala 2017

    The Orbital Gala has brought in more than $2 million over the past 14 years in support of the Academy’s programs. And the 2017 event was one of the most successful to date. Nearly 400 guests enjoyed a silent auction, dinner and dancing at Mardi Gras World during AAO 2017 and helped raise more than $190,000 for Academy programs.

    Hoskins Center Iris Registry Research Fund

    This year’s Orbital Gala also honored former Academy CEO H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, a champion for ophthalmic education, physician and patient advocacy, and technological innovation. Dr. Hoskins and his wife, Ann, recently established the new Hoskins Center IRIS Registry Research Fund. This fund, which is being supported through a $500,000 donation from OMIC, will enable researchers to harness the power of the IRIS Registry database to produce groundbreaking studies. It’s a remarkable opportunity for researchers to:

    • Consider new and more effective approaches to prevent and treat eye disease;
    • Learn more about treatment impacts, drug interactions and complications; and
    • Provide evidence-based clinical answers in shorter periods of time, leading to rapid improvement in patient outcomes.

    Orbital Gala attendees raised nearly $1 million to support this worthy initiative.

    The Foundation salutes every donor who supports the Academy and our mission to protect sight and empower lives. With your donations, last year we provided 225 full sets of the Basic and Clinical Science Course™ to residency training programs in developing countries and referred more than 8,000 medically underserved seniors for sight-saving care through EyeCare America®.

    Learn more about the many convenient ways to give and make a gift today.