Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Inc. Awards Endowment

The Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Inc. is proud to announce that they have established an endowment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) called -“Knights Templar Eye Foundation Directorship in Pediatric Vision Research.” The Foundation has made a $2 million contribution which is being matched dollar for dollar by VUMC honoring Dr. John S. Penn who will be the inaugural holder of a Directorship supported by this endowment.  

Dr. Penn started his personal development in research by applying for a grant to the Knights Templar Eye Foundation in 1986, which was awarded for two years to investigate Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), an eye disorder that occurs mostly in babies who weigh less than three pounds or are born before thirty-one weeks of pregnancy.  It is one of the most common causes of vision loss in children.  Dr. Penn developed an animal model of the ROP condition so its pathogenesis could be investigated. His discoveries led to continued funding of his ROP and related research program for over thirty consecutive years from the National Institute of Health (NIH).  His work in ROP over the years has altered the way premature infants are cared for and the way ROP is treated.  

Dr. Penn is currently associate dean for faculty affairs and vice chair and professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences. He is an internationally recognized investigator and research leader in vision science. Vanderbilt is a widely recognized home to experts in retinopathy of prematurity, retinoblastoma, pediatric glaucoma, orthoptics training, and the growing field of studying eye development in utero, and other areas of pediatric vision research. Dr. Penn has influenced and shaped the careers of young investigators in Vision Research and is a scientific leader and mentor at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute.  

This foundation has been honored to have Dr. Penn on our Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) as a member starting in 2000 and becoming the chair in 2012. The Committee of ten physicians scientists and investigators from around the country are experts in their individual fields and are chartered annually with the responsibility of reviewing all grant applications submitted to the Foundation and making recommendations on which applications the Foundation’s officers should approve.  

We are very proud of Dr. Penn’s accomplishments and are honored to know that he received his career start from the Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant Program and has been a major player in the Foundations Grant Program for the past twenty years.