Knights Templar Eye Foundation 2022 ARVO Travel Grants

The KTEF grant allowed ARVO to award an additional 95 travel grants in 2022, an increase of nearly 21%, for a total of nearly 462 grants for the year. For more than half a century, the KTEF has funded research grants with the goal of improving and preserving vision. As our Foundation has grown since its inception in 1955, it has expanded the number and size of grants and has commenced new initiatives in ophthalmology research and education. The Foundation’s research grants are targeted to new research by those in the early stages of their careers.

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Brandon Mullins
Knights Templar Eye Foundation Sword of Merit Presented to Sir Knight David Studley

At the 2022 Grand Commandery of California Annual Conclave a Sword of Merit was presented by SK David Kussman, Grand Master of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar; SK Jeffrey Bolstad, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar to the outgoing Grand Commander; SK David Studley who is also the Grand Captain General of the Grand Encampment Knights Templar. All three are also Officers and Trustees of the Knights Templar Eye Foundation.

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Brandon Mullins
Knights Templar Eye Foundation Sword of Merit and Golden Chalice Presented to SK Thomas and Lady Patricia Rossman

This Sword was in recognition of SK Rossman’s donating to the Grand Masters Club completing Tier 5 with a total of 25 Grand Masters Clubs totaling $25,000 in contributions. In reaching 25 Grand Masters Clubs the Knights Templar Eye Foundation automatically recognizes this great accomplishment by awarding a Sword of Merit. SK Rossman donated an additional $10,000 contribution for the Golden Chalice which was to honor his wife.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. Shu Wen from Baylor College of Medicine awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Cone/Rod Dystrophy Research

In a cohort of COD/CRD patients, they will combine the cutting-edge short and long-read wholegenome sequencing to investigate the noncoding and structural genetic variants, which are both often missed by current Sanger sequencing and capture-sequencing technologies. The genetic testing pipeline which will be built in this study may also be used to study other genetic diseases in the future.

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Brandon Mullins
Knights Templar Eye Foundation Sword of Merit Presented to Marysville Commandery No. 7, KT

On April 4, 2022, SK David Studley, Grand Captain General of The Grand Encampment who is also the Grand Commander of California, and Trustee of the Knights Templar Eye Foundation presented a Sword of Merit on behalf of the Knights Templar Eye Foundation during a reception honoring SK Studley at Marysville Commandery No. 7, receiving the sword was SK Stephan Parnow, Commander of Marysville Commandery.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. William Spencer from Duke University's Albert Eye Institute, awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant For Photoreceptor Research

The significance of this scientific direction is highlighted by the fact that numerous blindness-causing mutations, in addition to those in PRCD, that affect children are associated with accumulation of extracellular vesicles in the retina. Therefore, addressing the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying their formation and clearance are key steps in developing future therapeutic strategies.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. Tasneem Sharma from Indiana University's Glick Eye Institute awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Foundation Grant for Childhood Glaucoma Research

Childhood glaucoma is a pediatric condition leading to significant visual impairment. Juvenile-onset primary open angle glaucoma (JOAG) is a subtype of primary glaucoma, and the disease presents from four years to early adulthood. The disease is identified by increased pressure within the eye and progressive death of neurons in the back of the eye, which can eventually lead to blindness in children.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. Warren Pan from Michigan Medicine's Kellogg Eye Center awarded $70,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Inherited Retinal Disease Research

By studying these changes over time with and without the drug, we will begin to understand the cellular and metabolic mechanisms responsible for this devastating group of diseases that cause childhood blindness. These studies will move us closer to developing a novel drug capable of treating vision loss in this diverse set of inherited diseases regardless of gene mutation.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. Kimberly Meier from University of Washington awarded $65,000 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Amblyopia Research

Over the last year, Dr. Meier has successfully developed a way of quickly measuring the specific neural deficits that underlies an individual’s poor vision. She plans to use this same task in children, while recording brain responses over time. Her long-term aim is to develop a way of measuring brain responses in young pre-verbal children. Once they know a child’s specific neural deficits, clinicians can generate individualized treatments that target his or her specific pattern of neural abnormalities – resulting in faster and better treatment.

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Brandon Mullins
Dr. Daniel Joyce from University of Nevada, Reno awarded $69,547 Knights Templar Eye Foundation Grant for Juvenile Myopia Research

Understanding this causal sequence is critical to developing treatments that address the cause(s) of juvenile myopia, not just the symptoms as current treatments do. This is extremely important because myopia is estimated to affect 30% of the world’s population already (the cost in the US alone being $4 billion a year) and will affect 50% of the world’s population by 2050.

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Brandon Mullins