From glaucoma discoveries that hold clues about Alzheimer’s to stem cell therapies that reverse blinding eye diseases, every day, UC Davis Health Eye Center researchers and specialists are expanding the horizons of what vision science can do for patients. 

Through their ambitious research agendas, commitment to teamwork and passion for serving the greater good, our exceptional clinician-scientists push the boundaries of what medicine can do for patients and inspire tomorrow’s ophthalmologists to reach for new treatments and cures.

Associate Professor Glenn Yiu, M.D., Ph.D., is a vitreoretinal surgeon at UC Davis. Yiu discovered a gene editing tool that could lead to a cure for wet age-related macular degeneration — a serious, often blinding form of the disease. Using state-of-the-art imagining to study the vasculature in the back of the eye, Yiu has developed a non-invasive way to deliver genes that aid healing, and he is also researching methods for delivering drugs directly to diseased tissue. 

Collaborations across the university are crucial for translating cutting-edge discoveries like Yiu's into treatments and cures — and funding for research take those collaborations to the next level. With your philanthropic investment, together we can build the Eye Center's research capacity and position UC Davis vision science programs to be the best in the world. 

This Give Day, each gift moves us one step closer to our goal of 100 donors. Your contribution will help unlock very generous challenge gifts: 

• 60 gifts will unlock $50,000 from Dr. Murray Gardner to support retina research under the direction of Dr. Glenn Yiu!
• 15 gifts will help unlock $2,500 from Anne Marie Petrie to support collaborative vision research in honor of Dr. Ivan Schwab!
• 25 gifts from Eye Center resident and fellow alumni will help unlock $2,500 from Bonnie Dale in honor of Dr. Mark Mannis!

Your gift – no matter the amount – has a significant impact. Philanthropic partnerships now will help to shape the Eye Center's future, supporting the expansion of critical research as we set the platinum standard in eye care and vision science, in Northern California and around the world.