FOX CENTER BRINGS HOPE OF RESTORED SIGHT
UPMC Eye Center and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine have joined forces to create a program that will focus on developing ground-breaking technologies and therapies to restore vision for people who have lost their vision through disease, accident or injury. In honor of a generous seed gift from Louis J. Fox, UPMC Eye Center and the McGowan Institute unveiled the program as the Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh at a June 18, 2009 press conference.
A Pitt alumnus and legally blind himself, Mr. Fox made his $3 million contribution because he believes in the hope of restoring lost vision and improving quality of life for people who have suffer lost or severely impaired sight. Mr. Fox appeared at the press conference with the Center's executive director Major General (ret.) Gale Pollock, UPMC Eye Center director Joel S. Schuman, MD, FACS, and Marine Corps Corporal (ret.) Mike Jernigan to share the great impact philanthropy can have on medicine -- not just in the confines of clinics and laboratories, but ultimately in the lives of everyday people.
Wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq, Corp. Jernigan lost sight in both of his eyes. But at the press conference he demonstrated BrainPort, a ground-breaking substitution technology being tested and developed at the Fox Center that has brought him hope of regaining his sight. BrainPort works by sending visual data to the brain via a sensor placed on the tongue. The device teaches the brain to re-create visual images through this secondary channel as opposed to the eyes.
UPMC has pledged to match Mr. Fox's leadership gift -- and every gift benefiting the Fox Center for Vision Restoration -- dollar for dollar. With the help of philanthropic support and participation in medical research, the Fox Center will work toward restoring sight for millions of people with impaired vision.
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If you would like to support this mission of discovering cures for lost vision, and take advantage of the 1:1 match by UPMC, contact us at 412-383-8756 or info@eyeandear.org.
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Pittsburgh Business Times - June 19, 2009
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - June 19, 2009
Pittsburgh Tribune Review - June 19, 2009
KDKA.com - June 18, 2009
WPXI.com - June 18, 2009
WTAE.com - June 18, 2009
Corporal Michael Jernigan demonstrates BrainPort, a revolutionary technology at the Fox Center for Vision Restoration.