What Glaucoma Research Foundation does

Glaucoma Research Foundation is a 501c3 tax-exempt national nonprofit organization founded in 1978 and headquartered at 131 Steuart Street, Suite 200, San Francisco. Its mission is to cure glaucoma and restore vision through innovative research, patient education, and community convening. The Foundation operates three core research programs: the Shaffer Research Grants (one-year seed grants of $55,000 funding innovative pilot research, with more than 300 grants and over $62 million in cumulative research investment since 1978); the Catalyst for a Cure research consortium (a multidisciplinary, multi-institution collaboration across four sequential cohorts covering neurodegeneration, biomarkers, vision restoration, and prevention, with CFC 1 findings cited 8,000+ times by other scientists); and the Treatment Accelerator Initiative, which advances preclinical and Phase 1 clinical translational work and is funded in part by a transformational gift from the John and Daria Barry Foundation.

The Foundation's business model is donation-driven. Revenue streams include individual donations (many from patients and families personally affected by glaucoma), planned giving and bequests, and corporate and foundation grants. Its primary outputs are research grants and free patient education assets — a comprehensive website (glaucoma.org), a 40-page booklet, the Gleams newsletter, research videos and webinars, Spanish-language resources, and the annual Glaucoma 360 conference series uniting research, industry, FDA, and philanthropy. Grantmaking reached a record $3.06 million in 2026, funding 20 investigators across prominent U.S. medical institutions including Stanford, Harvard, Duke, Northwestern, and UC Berkeley. The Foundation maintains Charity Navigator 4-Star, BBB Accredited Charity, and Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency ratings, and operates with a small staff (1-10 employees). Thomas Brunner serves as President and CEO.

Name

Glaucoma Research Foundation

Legal name

Glaucoma Research Foundation

Website

https://glaucoma.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Glaucoma Research Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit founded in 1978 that funds innovative glaucoma research through Shaffer Grants, the Catalyst for a Cure consortium, and the Treatment Accelerator Initiative, while providing free patient education, Spanish-language resources, and the annual Glaucoma 360 conference to patients, families, and eyecare professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Medical Research Foundation

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

akta.pro primary industry

Glaucoma Specialists (HLAKAKAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN), Health Research Funding Agencies (Public/Quasi-Public) (HLAJALAB)

Keywords

• Glaucoma research
• Vision research funding
• Patient education resources
• Ophthalmology research
• Medical research grants

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual donors, patient families, and supporters contribute to fund glaucoma research programs. The foundation credits increased funding to strong donor commitment, many of whom are patients and families personally affected by glaucoma.
2. Planned Giving and Bequests: Donors can include the foundation in estate planning through planned giving programs.
3. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Transformational gifts from foundations (e.g., John and Daria Barry Foundation) and named research grants support specific research initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Glaucoma Research Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that funds innovative glaucoma research and provides free patient education. Its core activities include awarding Shaffer Research Grants to investigators, operating the Catalyst for a Cure multidisciplinary research consortium, running the Treatment Accelerator Initiative to advance discoveries into clinical trials, and producing educational resources such as the Glaucoma Booklet, Gleams Newsletter, and research videos for patients and families.

Product overview

Glaucoma Research Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to curing glaucoma and restoring vision through innovative research. The Foundation operates primarily as an educational and research funding organization rather than a technology product company. Its core offerings include: the glaucoma.org website providing comprehensive patient education; the Shaffer Research Grants Program funding innovative glaucoma research; the Catalyst for a Cure multidisciplinary research consortium (CFC 1-4); the Treatment Accelerator Initiative advancing discoveries toward clinical trials; the 40-page Glaucoma Booklet and Gleams Newsletter for patient education; and the annual Glaucoma 360 conference series. The Foundation also provides Spanish language resources and maintains partnerships with organizations like Alcon for expanded education access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Catalyst for a Cure: A multidisciplinary consortium of researchers working together to speed the cure for glaucoma and restore vision.
• Shaffer Research Grants
• Treatment Accelerator Initiative
• Glaucoma 360
• Gleams Newsletter

Products and services

• Shaffer Research Grants Program One-year seed grants of $55,000 providing innovation funding for glaucoma investigators exploring promising research leads. Over $62 million has been invested through more than 300 grants since the program's inception.
• Catalyst for a Cure Research Initiative

Quantifiable outcome

• Record $3.06 million in annual research grants in 2026, supporting 20 investigators at prominent U.S. institutions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• AlconcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 March 2026Partnership to expand access to glaucoma education resources in Spanish in the United States. New editions of educational booklets and audiobooks are being released to serve Spanish-speaking and visually impaired patients at higher risk for glaucoma.
• University of Southern CaliforniaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 January 2026Host venue for Glaucoma 360 2026 event, the 15th annual conference uniting research, industry, and philanthropy to accelerate progress toward curing glaucoma.
• Catalyst for a Cure Research ConsortiaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultidisciplinary research consortium including CFC 1 (neurodegeneration), CFC 2 (biomarkers), CFC 3 (vision restoration), and CFC 4 (prevent and cure neurodegeneration). Scientists from multiple institutions collaborate on glaucoma research initiatives.
• U.S. Medical Institutions (Shaffer Grant Recipients)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch grant recipients at prominent U.S. medical institutions including Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Northwestern, Duke, and others conducting innovative glaucoma research.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• CureSearch for Children's Cancer: CureSearch is a children's cancer research and advocacy nonprofit. It is an indirect thematic peer as another disease-specific grantmaking foundation, useful for benchmarking program design and donor-development strategies outside of ophthalmology.
• Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: PanCAN is a large, mature disease-specific nonprofit combining research grants, advocacy, and patient services for pancreatic cancer. It is thematically relevant as a parallel disease-specific research foundation model, useful as a comparable for scale, donor engagement, and program design.

Broad incumbents

• National Eye Institute (NEI): The National Eye Institute is the federal government's lead agency for vision research and a much larger source of grant funding than GRF. It is a broad incumbent in the same ophthalmology research domain and a key downstream funder of many investigators GRF seeds via Shaffer Grants.
• American Academy of Ophthalmology Foundation: The AAO Foundation supports ophthalmic education and research through the broader American Academy of Ophthalmology. It is a broad incumbent in eye-health philanthropy, with wider scope but overlapping investigator and institution relationships with GRF.

Direct peers

• American Glaucoma Society: American Glaucoma Society is the professional society for glaucoma specialists in the U.S. It overlaps directly with GRF's glaucoma-research mission and shares investigator relationships, though its model is membership-based rather than donor-driven.
• Foundation Fighting Blindness: Foundation Fighting Blindness is a nonprofit driving research for inherited retinal diseases and related vision-loss conditions. It directly parallels GRF's model of combining research grants, collaborative consortia, and donor-led fundraising around a specific vision-loss mission.
• Prevent Blindness: Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety nonprofit focused on advocacy, education, and sight-saving research. It is a direct peer combining patient education, public awareness, and research support across the vision-loss landscape.
• Research to Prevent Blindness: Research to Prevent Blindness is a vision research nonprofit providing unrestricted grants to ophthalmology departments at U.S. medical schools. It is a direct peer in mission, donor model, and grantmaking approach within the eye-health research domain.
• BrightFocus Foundation: BrightFocus Foundation is a nonprofit that funds research on macular degeneration, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's disease. It is one of the closest direct peers to GRF as a disease-specific research grantmaker with a similar donor-driven funding model and emphasis on scientific innovation.
• Macular Degeneration Foundation: Macular Degeneration Foundation is a smaller disease-specific nonprofit providing education, advocacy, and research funding for macular degeneration. It mirrors GRF's small-staff, donor-driven, disease-specific research foundation model with a related but distinct patient community.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/glaucomaorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/118286404596
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/glaucoma-research-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments6 records

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Frequently asked questions about Glaucoma Research Foundation