The grant will fund screenings through September 30, 2005.
"Glaucoma and diabetes are real problems among African Americans," said R. Linsy Farris, M.D., professor of clinical ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center and staff physician, Harlem Hospital Center. "This grant will enable Harlem Hospital Center to pursue an aggressive screening program. We are extremely grateful for this assistance from the Foundation."
"I am pleased that the dedication of our Harlem Hospital faculty is being recognized in this way," said Stanley Chang, M.D., chair, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center. "As a leading medical institution located in New York City, one of our primary goals is to give back to our communities by creating programs that can prevent or reduce the risk of potentially severely debilitating diseases, such as glaucoma."
"Harlem Hospital Center has done an impressive job screening the people of Harlem for this devastating condition," said Stanley J. "Bud" Grant, president, Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation. "As a result of the hospital's positive work with a grant we provided last year for glaucoma screenings, we substantially increased the amount for the upcoming year in this second award. This grant is tangible evidence of our high regard for the work of the Department of Ophthalmology at Harlem Hospital Center."
The award will be officially presented today by Mrs. Alma Rangel, wife of the Honorable Charles B. Rangel, a founder of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus.
Founded in late 1999, the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation, Inc. is dedicated to supporting the activities of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus, a group of United States Congress members who are committed to helping all Americans fight the scourge of glaucoma and other eye diseases. FCGCF provides diagnostic screenings opportunities for high risk glaucoma population groups in their home districts across the nation in support of the 80+ members of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus. Website: www.glaucomacongress.org.
Harlem Hospital Center is a teaching institution affiliated with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center. A venerable member of the community, Harlem Hospital was founded in 1887. Today, at 400 beds, it is the largest health facility in Harlem capable of treating the most seriously ill.
Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, medical education, and health care. The medical center trains future leaders in health care and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, nurses, dentists, and other health professionals at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the School of Dental & Oral Surgery, the School of Nursing, the Mailman School of Public Health, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. With a strong history of some of the most important advances and discoveries in health care, its researchers are leading the development of novel therapies and advances to address a wide range of health conditions.