The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) recently presented the first of its Marjorie Carr Adams Women's Career Development Awards to Caren Bellman and Jacque Duncan.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) recently presented the first of its Marjorie Carr Adams Women's Career Development Awards to Caren Bellman and Jacque Duncan. Established in October 2007, the six-year, $1 million awards program was created to support women researchers in the quest for cures for retinal diseases. Caren Bellman, a clinical ophthalmologist and medical investigator of the Centre Hospitalier National d'Ophtalmologie in Paris, France, will be studying retinal degenerative disease progression and predictive signs, as well as disease mechanisms for the identification of treatment targets. Jacque Duncan, assistant adjunct professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, will be working on the development of the Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) for evaluating the retinas of people affected by retinal degenerations. AOLSO is a tool for studying disease progression and efficacy of treatments. The current recipients received a total of $144,000 in five-year grant awards to support their careers in retinal disease clinical research. The grant recipients will work with designated mentors, attend or present at a national or international scientific conferences, and observe and participate in FFB-sponsored peer-reviewed scientific sessions. For more information, contact: Foundation Fighting Blindness, 11435 Cronhill Drive, Owings Mills, MD 21117-2220; phone: [phone] or 410-568-0150; e-mail: <[e-mail]>; web site: <www.fightblindness.org>.