The grants will be allocated through the Foundation’s Translational Research Acceleration Program.
One of the projects under the program involves the use of gene therapy to resurrect and reactivate cone cells of the eye that are compromised by disease.
The Foundation is offering grants to the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center, which is developing a nanoparticle gene therapy delivery system, in partnership with Copernicus Therapeutics.
A part of the grant will also support the research going on at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and the University of Florida for projects investigating gene therapy for two different LCA-causing genes.
In addition, investment will help the University of Pennsylvania for choroideremia gene therapy.
Foundation Fighting Blindness chief research officer Stephen Rose said the gene therapy has immense potential in saving and restoring vision.