Beckman Foundation Gives $10 Million to USC Eye Institute to Study Disorder

A USC eye institute will receive $10 million from an Orange County foundation to study a common age-related vision disorder over the next six years, it was announced Monday.

The Doheny Eye Institute will get the money for the study of age-related macular degeneration from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Irvine. “The funding of this project will dramatically expand the scope of . . . research,” Jacqueline Dorrance, the foundation’s executive director, said in a news release.

Dr. Steve Ryan, president of the Doheny Eye Institute, agreed. “Our goal,” he said, “is to develop an interdisciplinary and interactive team of outstanding scientists.”

Age-related macular degeneration--a condition characterized by damage to the center of the retina from excess bleeding--is the leading cause of severe visual loss and blindness in Americans older than 65.