A Race Against Blindness Funds a Second $1 Million Grant for Gene-Agnostic Research

A Race Against Blindness has funded a second $1 million grant with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to advance gene-agnostic therapies for inherited retinal diseases. The grant was funded in November 2026 as part of our joint Blindness Awareness Month campaign. It brings RAB's research grants to $7.1 million, all of it paid.

Why gene-agnostic research

Inherited retinal diseases are caused by mutations in hundreds of different genes. A therapy built for one gene helps the families with that gene. A gene-agnostic therapy is designed to work regardless of which gene is involved, so one treatment could reach many more people. Our son Luke has retinitis pigmentosa caused by Bardet-Biedl syndrome, and we started RAB for families like ours. This kind of research is how we reach families whose gene may never get its own therapy.

Where the $1 million goes

$700,000 goes to the Gund Vision Fund, the Foundation's venture philanthropy arm, formerly called the RD Fund. It supports gene-agnostic approaches across the Fund's portfolio, including neuroprotection to slow degeneration, approaches that restore light sensitivity, and cell therapies. The Gordon and Llura Gund Foundation Challenge matches this portion dollar for dollar, so $1.4 million reaches the Fund.

$300,000 goes to a Foundation Fighting Blindness research award for Dr. Jin Woo Kim at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

Dr. Kim's research

The human retina does not repair itself after damage. Dr. Kim's preclinical work aims to change that. It uses an antibody to block PROX1, a protein that normally keeps Müller glia, the retina's support cells, from regenerating. With PROX1 blocked, Müller glia can reprogram into progenitor-like cells that may develop into new light-sensing photoreceptors. In animal models of retinitis pigmentosa, the approach has restored visual function.

This research is still in the laboratory. The award will refine the antibody and how it is delivered, then move the strongest candidates toward large-animal studies, with first-in-human trials as the eventual goal.

Building on June

This is our second grant with the Foundation Fighting Blindness this year. In June 2026 we funded $1 million: $775,000 to the Fund, also matched, and $225,000 to Dr. Thomas Mendel's research at The Ohio State University. Together the two grants put $2 million from RAB into gene-agnostic research in 2026.

Thank you

Every dollar of this grant came from our community of supporters. We are all in this fight together, and we want to keep making an impact for as long as we can.