Michael Redmond of NEI recognized with a Champalimaud Foundation's Vision Award

Seven scientists in the United States and Britain who have come up with a revolutionary gene therapy cure for a rare genetic form of childhood blindness won the 2018 António Champalimaud Vision Award, a 1 million euro prize from Portugal’s Champalimaud Foundation.  Among them is Michael Redmond, chief of NEI’s Laboratory of Retinal Cell and Molecular Biology. Michael Redmond deduced how the RPE65 gene converts dietary vitamin A into a form of the vitamin that is central to the workings of the visual cycle, the enzymatic processes by which the eye converts light into electrical signals sent to the brain.

The António Champalimaud Vision Award was launched in 2006 and is considered among the most prestigious vision science prizes.  In even-numbered years, it is bestowed to basic and clinical scientific researchers, and in odd-numbered years, institutions are recognized for their on-the-ground efforts to prevent and cure blindness and vision disorders, primarily in developing countries.  Redmond’s award will be given to the NEI in support of his research.  For more information about his lab, visit https://irp.nih.gov/pi/t-michael-redmond.