
£1.7 million funding for children’s eye health research
The Medical Research Foundation is working in partnership with Moorfields Eye Charity to support research into childhood and adolescent eye health. £1.7 million of funding will be invested into this underfunded area of research to help save children’s sight.
The sight of millions of children depends on continual medical advances underpinned by innovative research.Dr Angela Hind
Chief Executive, Medical Research Foundation

Globally, at least 450 million children have a sight condition that needs treatment, with 90 million of them living with some form of sight loss.
£1.7 million of funding will be invested into this underfunded area of research to help save children’s sight.
This funding initiative is the first of its kind in the UK and has the potential to help save sight and transform the lives of millions of children all over the world.
Research supported through this partnership will increase our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning eye health and disease in children and adolescents, which could lead to improvements in diagnosis and treatments.
The Medical Research Foundation is investing £1.2 million, thanks to generous donations from Barbara Sofia Formi, Anne Catherine Burdon, Louisa Stacey Pike and Herman Spooner, to support research nationally.
Moorfields Eye Charity is seeking to raise £500,000 to support paediatric research. This will provide a remarkable opportunity for Moorfields and its academic partner the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology to add further valuable impact into the paediatric space.
Currently only 3% of research funding is spent on eye diseases. This partnership and significant investment from the Medical Research Foundation and Moorfields Eye Charity will change the landscape of children’s eye health. Andrew Dick, Director, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology
This is an amazing opportunity for Moorfields Eye Charity and the Medical Research Foundation to improve children’s eye health. We’re delighted to be working together to further support Moorfields Eye Hospital and its academic partner, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, known for their pioneering advancements and make a difference to the lives of patients and their families.”Robert Dufton
Chief Executive, Moorfields Eye Charity

Moorfields Eye Charity is a leading charity in the UK dedicated to the funding of innovations in eye research and patient care as well as sharing of knowledge.
The charity supports pioneering eye health and the work of the world-leading partnership of Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology - helping save people’s sight in the UK and around the world.

The commitment and ambition of both Moorfields Eye Charity and the Medical Research Foundation will help change the future for children with sight loss in the UK and worldwide.
Dr Angela Hind, Chief Executive of the Medical Research Foundation, said: "This joint funding between the Medical Research Foundation and Moorfields Eye Charity represents an invaluable opportunity in the hugely underfunded research field of child and adolescent eye health. We’re thrilled to be providing funding for ground-breaking, multi-disciplinary research nationally that we hope will change the lives of many young patients with sight conditions."
Applications for grants are open on our Flexigrant system.
Applications will be assessed by specialists in the field nominated by both Moorfields Eye Charity and the Medical Research Foundation.
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Apply for a grant for research into children's eye health.
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