The Foundation has a strong interest in supporting continuing medical research in areas that are not likely to share in the large amounts of funding provided by the United States government to medical researchers in the U.S. Our principal focus is eye research, an area long supported by Villum Kann Rasmussen because of his keen interest, both personally and professionally, in daylight and its usefulness to people.

The Eye Research Collaborative was organized by the Foundation with Dr. Lois E. H. Smith of Children's Hospital Boston as its director, with the goal of coordinating the work of several researchers located at different medical centers. This group approach was used to amplify the research of each laboratory to examine the causes and treatment of a common eye disease. The first research project involved retinopathy, and the second effort relates to macular degeneration.

Dr. Smith has received significant recognition for her own research and for her leadership of the Collaborative.

• In 2006, she received the Alfred W. Bressler Prize in Vision Science, awarded by The Jewish Guild for the Blind, given annually since 2002 for leadership, research and service resulting in important advancements in the treatment of eye disease, with particular note of achievements in the field of retinal angiogenesis and neovascularization.

• Dr. Smith received the Alcon Research Institute Award for outstanding research contributions to the field of ophthalmology in 2007, recognizing her research contribution which found that IGF-1 deficiency after birth is a primary cause of proliferative retinopathy.

• In addition, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) has announced that Dr. Smith is the recipient of the 2008 Friedenwald Award, widely regarded as the highest attainable honor in eye research. She will deliver the Friedenwald Lecture at the 2008 ARVO annual meeting.

In addition to our major grants (listed on the left), we have also provided funding for the Children’s Digestive Health Center, which provides multi-disciplinary expertise for children with complex digestive disorders, the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health and the Sustainable Sciences Institute, both of which are described separately in the Health section of this website.