CLARKSBURG, Md.— BrightFocus Foundation, a nonprofit organization supporting research and providing public education to help eradicate brain and eye diseases, announced yesterday that it will be distributing more than $8.7 million in grants to 59 research projects in six countries, 19 states and the District of Columbia to aid in the efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration and glaucoma.

BrightFocus said it will provide grants of more than $5.2 million for Alzheimer’s disease research and $3.5 million to research projects examining macular degeneration and glaucoma, with topics including cellular therapies, genetic research and testing of new treatments. The grants will bring BrightFocus’ dollar amount of funding for research projects to a total of more than $140 million in 40 years, and nearly $35 million in the last five, according to the organization.

“BrightFocus strives to identify and support the most promising, early-stage research,” said president and CEO, Stacy Pagos Haller. “We fund some of the best ideas within the scientific community, with grants vetted by the world’s top scientists in the field.”

Haller also noted that foundation support of early-stage research is critical at a time of continued strain on federal research funding and that the search for a cure must involve the combined efforts of the public, private and nonprofit sectors, the organization said.

Grant recipients and projects will be announced after completion of final agreements with researchers and supporting institutions.