news & updates

Congratulations 2023 Resident Grant Award Recipients!

The ACVO Vision for Animals Foundation (VAF) is pleased to announce the 2023 Resident Grant Award recipients.  Award winners will receive a combined total of $38,247.

Ashley Bowyer, DVM, Kansas State University, $4,764
Pharmacokinetics and adverse effects of voriconazole administered orally q72 hours in healthy cats

Tiffany Chen, DVM, University of Pennsylvania, $3,500
Comparison of needle electrodes versus gold cup skin electrodes for scotopic clinical electroretinography in the dog

Paul McCarthy, Eye Clinic for Animals, Australia, $7,483
Evaluation of hearing in dogs with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS)

Erinn P. Mills, University of California – Davis, $7,500
Determining the Effect of A Novel Topical Lipid Therapy on Tear Film Inflammatory Cytokine Profiles in Dogs with Evaporative Dry Eye Disease (EDED)

Callie Rogers, DVM, Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, $7,500
The effects of photodynamic therapy with indocyanine green (EmunoDo®) and 810nm diode laser on the healthy equine

Aaron Sieve, DVM, University of Missouri, $7,500
A microbiota investigation of ophthalmic trypan blue commonly used in canine cataract surgery –

Thank you to the Grants Committee (see list of members below) and to all of the ABVO residents who submitted proposals this year.

ACVO Vision for Animals Grants Committee:  Drs. Andrew Lewin and Becky Telle, Co- Chairs; Drs. Chris Alling, Heather Chandler, Braidee Foote, Kelly Knickelbein, Keiko Miyadera, Georgina Newbold, Sami Pederson, Lionel Sebbag,  Colleen Sheridan, Alex Sigmund, Kyle Tofflemire

Registration is Now Open!

Registration is now open for the VAF’s next webinar.  The cost to attend is $20.  This program has been submitted to RACE for approval for 1 CE hour.

The session will be recorded and available to registered attendees for 2 weeks after the live date.  To learn more, click here

Make a Year-End Gift to the VAF!

The partnership and generosity of supporters like you makes the VAF’s mission to advance animal eye health through science and education possible. Please consider making a year-end contribution to the VAF. Your gift will ensure that the foundation can continue to fund grant making programs and launch new initiatives to support education within our profession.

You can make a secure contribution online here.

Resident Phaco Course is SOLD OUT!

**The VAF’s Resident Phaco Course is SOLD OUT. **

If you would like to be added to a waitlist please email us at

The ACVO Vision for Animals Foundation, in partnership with Alcon, is offering a Phacoemulsification Course for 2nd and 3rd Year ABVO Residents.  The course will take place on Friday, March 1, 2024 at the Alcon Experience Center in Fort Worth, Texas.  Enrollment is limited to 24 participants.

Participants will receive 6 CE hours (3 lecture, 3 wet lab).  This course will be submitted to RACE for approval.

More details and registration are available here.

SARDS Updates on VAF Funded Research

In 2021, the VAF awarded the Founders Clinical Research grant, in the amount of $9,098, to Dr. Ken Abrams and team for their submission, titled ‘*Olfaction Evaluation in Dogs with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS); (Sniffin’ out SARDS!)*’.

The results of their study have been published in Veterinary Ophthalmology and the VAF and Dr. Abrams have covered the cost of the open access fee.

Olfaction evaluation in dogs with sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome is available here

 

VAF Fellowship Grant Awards Announced

The VAF is pleased to announce the following grants as part of the Fellowship program:

$75,000, Dr. Bret Moore, University of Florida, for his proposal, The outcomes, risk factors, and risk mitigators of phacoemulsification in veterinary ophthalmology: a 22-institutional multivariate analysis to guide current therapy and future prospective studies.

$15,000 Dr. Uchenna Nlebedum,  University of California-Davis for his proposal, Advanced training in identification and genotyping of a novel PRA in racing Greyhounds.

VAF Announces 2022 Grant Award

The VAF is pleased to announce that Dr. András M. Komáromy and his group from Michigan State University have been selected to receive a grant award, in the amount of $50,000, for their proposal “Keratoleptynsis for Management of Canine Glaucoma”.
The VAF is grateful to all of the applicants and to our volunteer proposal reviewers, Drs. Brian Leonard, Stephanie Pumphrey, Becky Telle and Dan Ward, for sharing their time and expertise.

Congratulations 2021 Resident Grant Award Recipients!

The VAF is thrilled to announce the following 2021 Resident Grant award recipients.  The award winners will receive a combined total of $21,385.

Dr. Billie Beckwith-Cohen, Michigan State University
$5,000
Retinal remodeling and plasticity in a CABP4-mutant model of retinal degeneration

Dr. Kourtney Dowler, University of Missouri
$5,000
Ophthalmic viscoelastics commonly used in cataract surgery: a microbiota investigation

Dr. Michael Minaldi, Mississippi State University
$1,385
Effects of topical ropivacaine hydrochloride 0.5% and lidocaine hydrochloride 2% on corneal sensitivity in horses

Dr. Melanie Mironovich, Louisiana State University
$5,000
Utilizing polymeric antioxidant-loaded nanoparticles as a delivery system to mitigate photo-oxidative stress of whole porcine lenses in vitro

Dr. Brett Story, UC Davis
$5,000
Ocular pathology of Tay-Sachs disease in Jacob sheep

Thank you to Grants Committee Chair, Dr. Georgina Newbold, and committee members, Drs. Rachel Allbaugh, Heather Chandler, Andrew Lewin, Keiko Miyadera, Sami Pederson, Erin Scott, Gillian Shaw, Kyle Tofflemire, Sarah Thomasy and Tomo Wiggans. for your time and energy!

Congratulations to 2021 Founders Clinical Research Grant Recipient, Dr. Ken Abrams

The VAF is pleased to announce that the 2021 Founders Clinical Research Grant, in the amount of $9,098, has been awarded to Dr. Ken Abrams and team for their submission, titled ‘*Olfaction Evaluation in Dogs with Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome (SARDS); (Sniffin’ out SARDS!)*’.

Thank you to Dr. Andrew Lewin, Founders Clinical Research Grant Review Committee Chair, and Committee Members (Drs. Mike Brown, Cynthia Cook, Amanda Joslin, Brad Nadelstein and Dan Ward) for the time and energy that they dedicated to this project.

VAF Awards 2 Large Grants!

The ACVO Vision for Animals Foundation (VAF) is thrilled to announce the recipients of our 2020 Large Grant program:

Defining the Pathophysiology of Hypercoagulability in Canine Sudden Acquired Retinal Degeneration Syndrome
Dr. Freya Mowat
University of Wisconsin Madison School of Veterinary Medicine
$30, 227

Investigation into the Genetics of Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) Multiple Ocular Coloboma
Dr. Tim Georoff
Philadelphia Zoo
$29,150

This year, the VAF has awarded a record amount – more than $81,000 – of grant funding to residents and diplomates for important research efforts.