Alan Laties RD Memorial Fund

We are excited to announce the Alan Laties RD Memorial Fund, created to support The Alan Laties endowed lectureship and travel fellowships for young investigators to attend the International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration (aka RD Meeting).  As the inaugural Scientific Director of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation, now the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB), he was the driving force behind the research focus of FFB.  Throughout his illustrious career, Alan’s leadership created and galvanized our scientific community committed to the discovery of the causes and the development of cures for retinal degenerative diseases.  We are honoring his leadership and commitment to the field with a named lecture to be given by outstanding scientists at future RD meetings.    

Alan recognized that developing new therapies for retinal degeneration required a multigenerational approach. Alan’s greatest passion and perhaps his greatest impact was his ability to recognize talented basic and clinician scientists and mentor them in a life-long career focused on inherited retinal disease research. His support of travel awards for young scientists to attend the RD meetings led many recipients of these awards to ultimately become leaders in the field. Alan was a staunch supporter of having early-stage investigators gain valuable exposure and collaborations at the meetings. To honor Alan’s commitment to mentoring and training, the memorial fund will endow support travel awards for promising young investigators to attend and present their work at the meeting. 

Alan Laties was a gifted scientist, an outstanding leader, and a warm and compassionate human being.  He enriched the lives of his contemporaries, friends, and colleagues, and was an inspiration to all of us. We feel that the lectureship and travel awards in his honor would be a fitting tribute to his career accomplishments and lifetime passion for understanding the causes and finding cures for retinal degenerative diseases.  We hope you share our love and admiration for Alan and will join us in supporting the Alan Laties RD Memorial Fund.