Administered by The Macula Society

Each year’s recipient of the RRF Mills and Margaret Cox Macula Society Research Project is selected by the Macula Society’s Research Committee. The 2024 committee is chaired by Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD. Using a scoring system, each committee member reviews the applications in the areas of scientific content, originality, description of the methods, clinical relevance, clarity and overall impact. The results are automatically tabulated and  discussed in detail during the selection process.

The annual grant award is $30,000, funded by Retina Research Foundation from endowment earnings of the Cox gift. The research is limited to retinal vascular and macular diseases.

The grant application, along with eligibility and funding guidelines, is available on the Macula Society website (www.maculasociety.org). Macula Society members who have not been a past recipient of a Retina Research Foundation Award are eligible to apply.

2024 Grant Award Recipient

Leo Kim, MD, PhD

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary/ Schepens Eye Research Institute

Dr. Kim’s research project:

“Inhibition of Topoisomerase 1 for the treatment of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy”

The results of Dr. Kim’s funded project will be presented at the 2025 or 2026 Macula Society meeting.

Dr. Kim is currently an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School serving on the Retina Service at Mass Eye and Ear, and the incumbent of the Monte J. Wallace Ophthalmology Chair in Retina. He received his B.S. from Johns Hopkins University from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and then went on to receive his MD, PhD from Yale University School of Medicine.  He completed residency in ophthalmology and fellowship in vitreoretinal surgery at USC and Doheny Eye Institute.  Upon completion of his fellowship, he joined the NIH-sponsored K12 program at Mass Eye and Ear to pursue his career path as a clinician-scientist.

During his time at Mass Eye and Ear, he has published over 95 peer-reviewed publications. His work has primarily focused on pathologic retinal angiogenesis and fibrosis, with the use of patient-derived surgically dissected samples to elucidate new molecular mechanisms of disease. His research has been funded by numerous foundation grants, the Department of Defense, as well as grants from the NIH / NEI grants through R21 and R01 mechanisms.

Notably, he discovered the role of RUNX1 in pathologic retinal angiogenesis using patient-derived tissues, furthering our understanding of ocular angiogenesis beyond vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), by using fibrovascular membranes from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.  He has illustrated the role of RUNX1 in proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and expanded it to include choroidal neovascularization as found in exudative age-related macular degeneration. This work was published in Diabetes, the American Journal of Pathology, and FASEB Journal. His research extends beyond the interest of ophthalmologists and retina specialists, but to the field of researchers investigating angiogenesis and RUNX1.

His other area of impact is in proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), a leading cause of recurrent retinal detachments, characterized by aberrant fibrosis within the eye. PVR is one of the most vexing problems that vitreoretinal surgeons must face. To advance this work, he developed three new models based on patient-derived PVR membranes.  First, he created a primary PVR cell culture line, which he has called the C-PVR cell line to investigate the mechanism of PVR, as well as a drug screening tool. Next, he has developed an in vivo rabbit model of PVR via injection of C-PVR cells within the vitreous of rabbits to recapitulate the clinical findings of PVR as found in patients. Finally, he developed an explant model of PVR, directly taking PVR membranes samples from the operating room into an extracellular matrix in vitro to directly evaluate the efficacy of therapies for PVR.

Using these patient-derived models he showed the effect of methotrexate on PVR, which was published in Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. This work was the scientific basis for the recently completed phase 3 GUARD trial testing the efficacy of methotrexate for PVR.  He then identified RUNX1 as an important mediator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in PVR, which was published in Nature Scientific Reports. Beyond methotrexate and RUNX1 inhibition, he has found several new promising therapeutic modalities for PVR including rho kinase and topoisomerase inhibition.

2023 Grant Award Recipient

Francesco Bandello, MD

San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy

Dr. Bandello’s Research Project:

“From diagnostics to prognosis and response prediction: integrating imaging with genetics in patients with retinal vein occlusion”.

Dr. Bandello will present the results of his project at the 2024 or 2025 Macula Society meeting

2022 Grant Award Recipient

Ajay Kuriyan, MD

Mid Atlantic Retina/Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, PA

Dr. Kuriyan’s Research Project:

“Investigating the Role of Monocarboxylate Transporter 4 (MCT4) and Lactate in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.“

Dr. Kuriyan will present his findings at a future Macula Society meeting, either in 2023 or 2024.

2021 Grant Award Recipient

Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, MD, MHS

Byers Eye Institute at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA

Prithvi Mruthyunjaya MD, MHS is Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Stanford University, member of the Vitreoretinal Surgery Service and is the new Director of Ocular Oncology at the Byers Eye Institute. His clinical interest lies in the multi-disciplinary, vitreoretinal approach to ocular tumors and simulating conditions, and complex vitreoretinal disorders.  He manages both adult and pediatric ocular cancers with a focus on novel therapeutics, intraocular biopsy, and vision-saving strategies to reduce treatment toxicity. He has authored over 125 papers in peer reviewed journals and trained over 45 retina fellows.

Dr. Mrutyhyunjaya’s Research Project: “Aqueous Humor Proteomic analysis to detect targetable diagnostic biomarkers in uveal melanoma.”

Dr. Mrutyhyunjaya’s Research Interests: Dr .Mruthyunjaya’s research interests span 3 main areas: novel therapeutic strategies to treat intraocular tumors, enhanced imaging of retinal and oncologic disease, and improving patient outcomes through collaborative research networks.   A proponent of multi-disciplinary research teams, he is currently working on a micro bubble drug delivery system in model systems of retinoblastoma as well as multi centered trials of tumor antigen targeting chemotherapy for ocular melanoma.  He is interested in new surgical techniques to safely obtain tumor biopsy samples and enhance detection yield.  Intraocular imaging with wide-field techniques and latest generation OCT technology has provided novel insights into the early diagnosis of ocular tumors including lymphoma, melanoma, and retinoblastoma.  Finally, he actively engages in Collaborative networks to advance research and therapies for patients and one such group he conceived, the Ocular Oncology Study Consortium was a collaboration between 13 international ocular oncology centers, to tackle important questions in the role of tumor genetics, reducing radiation toxicity, and tumor biopsy.

2020 Grant Award Recipient

Kathryn L. Pepple, MD, PhD

University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA

Dr. Pepple’s Research Project: “Retinal Microglia and Innate Lymphoid Cells in Post-Infectious Uveitis”

2019 Grant Award Recipient

Steven Yeh, MD

University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE

Dr. Yeh’s Research Project: “Ophthalmic Surveillance of Emerging Infectious Diseases within Sub-Saharan African and Southeast Asian Outbreak Zones.”

Previous RRF Cox Macula Research Grant Recipients

2023  Francesco Bandello, MD
2022   Ajay Kuriyan, MD
2021   Prithvi Mruthyunjaya, MD, MHS
2020  Kathryn L. Pepple, MD, PhD
2019  Stephen Yeh, MD
2018  Cagri Besirli, MD, PhD
2017   Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD
2016   Christine A. Curcio, PhD
2015    Robyn Guymer, MD
2014    Demetrios G. Vavvas, MD, PhD
2013    Kang Zhang, MD, PhD
2012    Stephen Tsang, MD, PhD and Stephen Jae Kim, MD
2011    J. William Harbour, MD
2010    Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD
2009    Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD