About Brightfocus Foundation
BrightFocus funds groundbreaking research to discover cures for Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.
Focus Areas
Alzheimer’s disease researchMacular degeneration researchGlaucoma researchClinical trialsResearch grants
Who They Fund
biomedical researchers / principal investigatorspeople living with Alzheimer's diseaseolder adults at risk for or living with age-related macular degeneration
Funding Style
disease-focused investigator research grantsproject-restricted (PI-specific) fundingportfolio support for multiple individual labs
About Brightfocus Foundation
Brightfocus Foundation channels most of its major grantmaking into research that aims to understand, prevent, and treat Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. In the recent-grants list, its largest award is $600,000 to the University of Southern California for Alzheimer’s disease research by Jinkook Lee, PhD, showing that the foundation backs project-specific work led by named investigators. The next-largest recent awards are nearly as large: $598,868 to Oregon Health & Science University for macular degeneration research by Yali Jia, PhD, and $450,000 grants to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The University of Iowa for additional macular degeneration projects. That mix points to a portfolio built around multiple labs at once rather than a single institution or one-off initiative. Brightfocus Foundation’s recent grants also include repeated Alzheimer’s disease awards at $300,000, indicating steady support for disease-focused research across several years. Its programs cover basic, translational, and clinical studies, with a consistent emphasis on biomedical science and research grants directed to scientists.
What Brightfocus Foundation Funds
Brightfocus Foundation supports three core disease areas, each tied to named research projects in the recent grants. In Alzheimer’s disease research, it gave $300,000 to Northwestern University - Chicago Campus for a project by Justyna Dobrowolska Zakaria, PhD, and $300,000 to Columbia University for work by Jae-Eun Miller, PhD. In macular degeneration research, the foundation funded $409,500 to William Marsh Rice University for Jerzy Szablowski, PhD, and $408,701 to National Eye Institute NIH for Ruchi Sharma, PhD. For glaucoma, BrightFocus runs National Glaucoma Research, a program that supports work to prevent, detect, and treat glaucoma and preserve vision through basic, translational, and clinical research. The program pages also point scientists to an application pathway through research grants.
How Brightfocus Foundation Gives
Brightfocus Foundation’s typical grant size sits in a tight research-grant band: the 25th percentile is $150,000, the median is $200,000, and the 75th percentile is $235,163. The recent awards list shows a separate cluster of larger, project-restricted grants at $300,000 and above, including multiple awards in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That pattern suggests recurring annual support for investigator-led projects rather than a single campaign. The foundation is a public charity, classified as a regular funder, and it does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. It also accepts unsolicited applications for its research programs, with a Request for Proposals and application process referenced for scientists.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$13.3M
Total Assets
$65.1M
Total Revenue
$63.4M
Total Expenses
$53.3M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $150K and $235K, with a median of $200K.
25th Percentile
$150K
Median
$200K
75th Percentile
$235K
Geographic Reach
National30 states funded
About 7% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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