AUGUSTA, Ga (WJBF)- The Knights Templar Foundation gifted a nearly one hundred thousand- dollar grant to a researcher at the Medical College of Georgia for vision improvement among babies.
They may not be knights in shining armor, but the Knights Templar do wear the armor of service for their dedication to improving vision research.
“We support things that we think will benefit our foundation and these young men, like today we make this presentation, he’s planning on staying here and keep research…,” Command Treasurer, Knight Templar Eye Foundation Bobby Simmons said.
The Medical College of Georgia has been a place where people like Dr. Syed Adeel H. Zaidi can work rigorously to find a cure for Retinopathy of Prematurity.
“He’s a young researcher, he’s got a lot of great ideas, he’s got good mentorship around him, he’s got great philanthropy supporting him. I mean, he’s got all the key ingredients,” Chair of Department of Ophthalmology Dr. Steve Brooks said.
Dr. Zaidi says MCG has been a great landing spot for his study.
“Being a young scientist, I need a lot of risks that I want to take with my research. It may not go in the way– but the funding they provide, internally, is so much, will help us…,” grant recipient Dr. Syed Adeel H. Zaidi said.
His hope? To make sure premature newborns can see the world as soon as they get here.
“Such a devastating disease that can happen to our children, and that’s our hope, to continue working for that and to find a better and better treatment for them.”
“Even if this doesn’t pan out, it’s going to make discoveries that will lead to other things, and the more we can keep people interested and the more we can fund their good ideas, the closer we’re gonna get to cures,” Dr. Brooks said.
That $90,000 grant will go towards further research currently being done to put an end to the disease.
