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American Academy of Ophthalmology

Awarded Two Million Dollars

he American Academy of Ophthalmology was awarded $2 million from the Knights
TTemplar Eye Foundation, Inc. to establish a permanent research fund to advance
the practice of pediatric ophthalmology. This fund will be used to support the work of
researchers investigating both rare and common eye diseases affecting children and to
uncover optimal, real-world approaches to prevention and treatment.

Insights for these projects will be gleaned from the Academy's IRIS® Registry (Intelligent
Research in Sight), the world's largest clinical specialty data registry. The Academy developed
the IRIS Registry to provide insights on eye disease, and to empower ophthalmologists to
effectively improve their practices and their patients' lives. Having amassed data on 50 million
patients in just four years, this data-rich resource has already improved the quality of eye care
for adult patients.

The fund will enable the Academy's IRIS Registry team to enhance the capture of data
collected on pediatric patients to reveal patient characteristics associated with disease and
better approaches to their prevention and treatment. The IRIS Registry team will also focus on
attracting more pediatric ophthalmologists to contribute to the database, further enhancing the
power of its data-driven insights.

The IRIS Registry will also be used to drive individualized learning for pediatric
ophthalmologists, providing them with information on their performance, outcomes of
treatment, and adherence to best practices. It will also connect ophthalmologists to an online
tool offering the best educational resources in pediatric ophthalmology.
"This grant is an extraordinary gift for ophthalmology," said David W. Parke II, MD, CEO
for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. "It will build upon the strengths of the world's
largest clinical data registry to drive insights on children's eye health. I have no doubt that
it will improve the care of individual children. The Knights Templar Eye Foundation is a
tremendous partner for our profession and our patients."

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