News & Events
World Glaucoma Week Focuses Attention on Eye Disease that Affects 400,000 Canadians
March 7-13 marks World Glaucoma Week, a global initiative to raise awareness of glaucoma – one of the most common eye diseases among older people and the second leading cause of blindness in older North Americans.
Glaucoma affects 400,000 Canadians, many of whom are undiagnosed and therefore untreated. As the population ages, these numbers are expected to increase, doubling to 800,000 by 2030. Unfortunately, many people with glaucoma are unaware that they have it until there is a large amount of irreversible vision loss.
“World Glaucoma Week is an opportunity not only to highlight the importance of early detection and treatment but also to build awareness of advances in glaucoma research,” says Dr. Neeru Gupta, National Coordinator for the week.
Dr. Gupta, a scientist specializing in glaucoma research, is on the Board of the Glaucoma Research Society of Canada, the only charity in Canada dedicated solely to glaucoma research.
“People can find out about the progress being made in glaucoma research and support this vital research by visiting our website at www.glaucomaresearch.ca,” says Dr. Gupta.
Feature Article:
The Impact of 10 Years of Funding
A few years ago, the Society hired a student, Gamal Seif (MSc, MD Program, McMaster University), to work with Dr. Trope (Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee) to evaluate whether our research dollars were producing new knowledge and stimulating discoveries.
The results were encouraging — more than 65% of our researchers have generated enough new information from the Society’s funding to present their research at ARVO, the world’s major science meeting. As well, a third of the researchers have published data in peer-reviewed journals.
The study’s objectives were to assess the effectiveness of the Society’s grants in advancing scientific knowledge of the causes, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of glaucoma. The hope was to demonstrate to donors that their donations have made a difference in advancing scientific knowledge of glaucoma.
The study:
- concluded that the Society’s grants have contributed to new glaucoma knowledge;
- demonstrated accountability to donors;
- helped the Society refine future grant distribution policies; and
- provided a reinvigorated sense of evaluation and accountability within all aspects of the Society’s operations.
