Young Investigator Leadership Awards Announced by the American Macular Degeneration Foundation

Special to the Journal

The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (AMDF) is launching a new category of award designed to cover essential costs for young investigators as they pursue careers in vision research.

“Many young researchers put in long hours in the labs of more senior scientists, who tend to be the ones who get the more substantial government funding,” said Chip Goehring, President and Founder, AMDF. “They don’t have the time to take on additional jobs in order to support their own research interests. We have been told by some of our other young researchers that covering the costs of a new laptop, conference fees or travel fees can actually make a huge difference, and make it more feasible to stay in the research field.”

The AMDF Young Investigator Leadership Awardswill be available to research assistants, post-doctoral fellows, residents and clinical fellows whose work focuses on macular degeneration. Uses of funding include, but are not limited to: the purchase of specialized ophthalmic devices, lab equipment, scientific texts, educational materials, digital devices, and to cover the costs of attending vision research conferences.

These new AMDF awards, in the amount of $1,000 each, will launch with the annual Palmina Gioioso Memorial I AMDF Young Investigator Leadership Award, established to honor the life of Pam Gioioso, and to be given each year to a young research scientist.

“Our mother was a kind, uncomplicated, generous woman who made everyone who knew her feel special, seen, heard, and loved,” said John Gioioso, Jr., her eldest son. “And she was tough. But we witnessed what macular degeneration took from her. As a family, we decided that creating this award would honor the devotion she had to young people, and invigorate macular degeneration research by encouraging young scientists with fresh ideas.”

The American Macular Degeneration Foundation (macular.org_(httRs:llwww.macular.org)) is a patient-centric foundation that supports potentially game-changing AMO research, education and advocacy in order to improve quality of life and treatment outcomes for all of those affected by AMO.