New Vision Science Research Grant for Students of Osteopathic Medicine

NEW YORK and ALBUQUERQUE – May 12, 2022 – Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) and the American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AOCOO-HNS) Foundation are pleased to announce a new multi-year partnership designed to provide opportunities for students of osteopathic medicine to gain research experiences in vision science.

Specifically, the partnership will provide joint funding for the RPB / AOCOO-HNS Foundation Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship for a Student of Osteopathic Medicine, which allows gifted students to take a year off from osteopathic medical school and devote time to the pursuit of a research project within an RPB-supported department of ophthalmology (see list at end of document). The award application is now open; nomination forms are due June 15, 2022 and applications are due July 1, 2022.

“We are thrilled to expand the eligibility for our Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship to students of osteopathic medicine, thanks to the partnership with the AOCOO-HNS Foundation,” said Brian F. Hofland, PhD, President of Research to Prevent Blindness. “By providing high quality research experiences for these students, we will broaden the pool of excellent candidates who are applying their talents toward finding cures for sight-threatening diseases.”

In 2022, the RPB / AOCOO-HNS Foundation Medical Student Eye Research Fellowship for Students of Osteopathic Medicine will offer one award to a student of osteopathic medicine focusing on any topic in vision research. The fellowship, which must take place prior to the third or fourth year of osteopathic medical school, will be funded for one year with a $30,000 grant, a portion of which should be utilized to help finance the recipient's eye research activities. After this award cycle, RPB and the AOCOO-HNS Foundation will partner to offer four additional awards (2023-2026).

“The leadership of the College (of AOCOO-HNS) is excited to offer this opportunity to one of our medical students this year and for the next 4 years. It is the College’s hope that these students will choose to enter one of our osteopathic ophthalmology residencies upon completion of their research year,” said Don Morris, DO, President of AOCOO-HNS Foundation. “The College feels the research experience may improve the student’s chance of securing a residency spot, and that the student’s research experience may help improve the residency’s future research opportunities.”

The ophthalmology departments (by state) that are eligible to nominate students for this award are located at the following medical schools:

California

David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles

Stanford University School of Medicine

University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine

University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine

Colorado

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Florida

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Illinois

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

Indiana

Indiana University

Iowa

University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Maryland

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Massachusetts

Harvard Medical School

Michigan

The Regents of the University of Michigan School of Medicine

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Missouri

Washington University in Saint Louis School of Medicine

New York

Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry

SUNY Upstate Medical University

Weill Cornell Medical College

New York University Langone Eye Center

North Carolina

Duke University School of Medicine

Ohio

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU 

Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Oregon

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Tennessee

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Texas

Baylor College of Medicine

Utah

University of Utah Health Sciences Center

Washington

University of Washington School of Medicine

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine & Public Health

For more information on this award, visit the RPB website.

About Research to Prevent Blindness 

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is the leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment or eradication of all diseases that damage and destroy sight. As part of this purview, RPB also supports efforts to grow and sustain a robust and diverse vision research community. Since it was founded in 1960 by Dr. Jules Stein, RPB has awarded more than $393 million in research grants to the most talented vision scientists at the nation’s leading medical schools. As a result, RPB has been associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss in the past 60+ years. Learn more at www.rpbusa.org.

About American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation

The American Osteopathic Colleges of Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Foundation supports resident training, education, and research. The Foundation recently entered into an agreement with Research to Prevent Blindness to sponsor an osteopathic medical student. The student will receive a stipend to participate in a research project at a university whose ophthalmology department receives a Research to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Grant.

May 12, 2022