The University of California San Diego received a $20 million gift on behalf of Hanna and Mark Gleiberman to support its research into reversing the effects of glaucoma.
The research center will be named for the two donors and will be located within the university's Viterbi Family Vision Research Center, according to a Nov. 17 news release from UC San Diego.
Funding will support the center's research on protecting and restoring vision in individuals with advanced glaucoma through a series of new treatments, including the use of stem cells. It will also create three new endowed chairs at the university to attract new vision scientists to the research center.
The donation was inspired by Mark Gleiberman's own diagnosis with glaucoma. He receives treatment from Robert Weinreb, MD, chair and professor of ophthalmology, director of the Shiley Eye Institute at UC San Diego Health and holder of the Morris Gleich, MD, Chair in Glaucoma at the university.