Former faculty member gives UCLA $10 million to advance ocular genetics research

UCLA has received a $10 million commitment from Dr. Bronwyn Bateman to establish a center for ocular genetics center at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute. The gift will support research projects as well as the center ’s startup costs and greatest needs moving forward.Bateman is a former professor of ophthalmology and pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.“As a long-standing partner of Stein Eye, Bronwyn has helped advance many of our vision programs,” said Dr. Bartly Mondino, UCLA’s Bradley R. Straatsma, M.D. Professor of Ophthalmology and director of the Stein Eye Institute. “We are grateful for this contribution, which will help position U CLA at the forefront of ocular genetics research and accelerate interdisciplinary science, innovative medicine and new technologies to benefit patients worldwide.”Courtesy of Dr. Bronwyn BatemanDr. Bronwyn BatemanTheUCLA Bronwyn Bateman Center for Ocular Genetics will advance clinical and translational science in ocular genetics, which seeks to address the genetic components of ophthalmic disease. Researchers in the field study the patterns and risks of inheritance, ways to improve the diagnosis and prognosis of genetic abnormalities and new therapies to treat disease.Bateman faced tragedy when she was a young resident at the Stein Eye Institute in the 1970s. Her husband, Rory Smith, who was then a resident in orthopaedics at UCLA, was diagnosed with mesothelioma. He died after an 11-month battle with the diseas...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news