Generous Gift Supports Early-Stage Vision Research

“Discovery research is the foundation of tomorrow’s  sight-saving therapies, and I am grateful for this partnership with Mr. and Mrs. Wadhams.” - Paul R. Lichter, MD, MS

Longtime Kellogg supporters Laurie and Timothy Wadhams have  endowed the Wadhams Ophthalmic Research Fund.
Longtime Kellogg supporters Laurie and Timothy Wadhams have  endowed the Wadhams Ophthalmic Research Fund.

Philanthropic support is critical to early-stage laboratory  research, which is why longtime Kellogg supporters Laurie  and Timothy Wadhams endowed the Wadhams Ophthalmic Research Fund. The gift will support cutting-edge research in  its early stages.

“I experienced challenges with my eyesight at an early age, and with successful treatment, was able to overcome them,”  says Mr. Wadhams, retired CEO of Masco Corporation.  “Laurie and I want to help ensure that treatments exist for  all of the diseases that threaten vision.”

The Wadhams’ endowed gift of more than $500,000 is  part of the Paul R. Lichter, M.D., M.S., Vision Research  Discovery Fund, an umbrella fund that supports research to build knowledge and open doors for more effective treatments  and cures. With the contribution, the Lichter Fund reached  a pivotal $5 million milestone.

“Discovery research is the foundation of tomorrow’s  sight-saving therapies, and I am grateful for this partnership with Mr. and Mrs. Wadhams,” says Dr. Lichter, immediate past chair of the U-M Department of Ophthalmology and Visual  Sciences and an active professor emeritus. “As physicians, scientists and community members, ensuring ongoing scientific advancement is one of the greatest contributions we can make  to vision.”

 The Lichter Fund provides competitive, peer-reviewed grants to researchers. Applications must include colleagues  in other departments and schools, catalyzing innovation and collaboration. 

Proceeds from the Wadhams’ fund will support researchers such as Brenda L. Bohnsack, M.D., Ph.D., the Helmut F. Stern Career Development Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and a pediatric ophthalmologist. With a Lichter Fund grant, she studied a gene related to aniridia, a congenital eye disease, and established new, novel research partnerships across Michigan. 

With the early-stage data that resulted, she applied for  further funding from the National Institutes of Health to  continue her work on preventing the disease.