Vicki P. Losick, PhD, has been named the inaugural recipient of an award from the William Procter Scientific Innovation Fund to support her research at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Salisbury Cove, Maine, on age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss in older people. Losick’s “high risk/high reward” project, which was selected by an external review committee, will establish a fruit fly model that mimics the cellular dysfunction associated with human retinal diseases, including AMD. She will use the model to study the genetics underlying the disease, and potentially to test for interventions to prevent or reverse it. Read more about her groundbreaking research in this feature from Women In Optometry. Read More.