Dean Bok, the Dolly Green Professor of Ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California--Los Angeles (UCLA) and distinguished professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, recently earned the Llura Liggett Gund Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB).

Dean Bok, the Dolly Green Professor of Ophthalmology at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California--Los Angeles (UCLA) and distinguished professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, recently earned the Llura Liggett Gund Award from the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB). The award honors researchers for extraordinary career achievements that have significantly advanced the research and development of preventions, treatments, and cures for retinal degenerative diseases. The award has previously been presented to only four other researchers throughout FFB's 38-year history. Dr. Bok's career achievements include producing, characterizing, and using transgenic animal models to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying inherited retinal diseases, as well as developing modes of treatment for these diseases. In collaboration with Michael Redmond of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Bok characterized the RPE-65 gene in a genetically engineered mouse, which set the groundwork for the first promising retinal gene therapy trial in humans. With Gabriel Travis and Matthew LaVail, he has studied molecules in photoreceptors and the related defects that are responsible for the retinal degenerative disease retinitis pigmentosa. He has also used gene therapy to successfully arrest the progression of disease in these animals. Dr. Bok's research has directly led to many projects focused on providing treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Stargardt's disease, and other inherited retinal diseases. For more information, contact: Foundation Fighting Blindness, 11435 Cronhill Drive, Owings Mills, MD 21117; phone: [phone] or 410-568-0150; e-mail: <[e-mail]>; web site: <www.blindness.org>.