Research to Prevent Blindness

Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is the leading voluntary health organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment, or eradication of all diseases that threaten vision.

Since it was founded in 1960, RPB has awarded over $320 million in research grants to the most talented vision scientists at the nation’s leading medical schools.  It currently provides funding to more than 50 leading scientific institutions across the U. S. and supports the work of hundreds of talented vision scientists engaged in a diverse range of sight-related research. RPB’s flexible grants foster groundbreaking findings by funding innovative research and by giving researchers the freedom to pursue emerging discoveries mid-study.  As a result, RPB has been associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss in the past 50 years.

RPB’s far-reaching activities are planned and carried out with the expert advice and guidance of a Scientific Advisory Panel composed of distinguished leaders in the field of medical science.

RPB’s endowment is currently valued at $270 million.  RPB neither seeks nor accepts funds from any governmental source, but it does rely on gifts from selective appeals to individuals, corporations and private foundations to support its research effort.  With a staff of 7, RPB is highly efficient.