Thursday, July 16, 2009

You can help find a cure for blinding eye diseases in children!

UI Foundation > UI Carver College of Medicine >

Team Project 3000

You can help find a cure for blinding eye diseases in children!

A group of cyclists will be riding 450 miles across the state of Iowa July 19-25, as part of RAGBRAI (the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) in an effort to raise funds and awareness for Project 3000.

Riders include representatives of the University of Iowa Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration, as well as several other friends and supporters of Project 3000.

Project 3000 represents a partnership between Chicago Cubs star Derrek Lee and Boston Celtics CEO and co-owner Wyc Grousbeck with the John and Marcia Carver Nonprofit Genetic Testing Laboratory at The University of Iowa. The effort seeks to eradicate an inherited form of blindness that strikes during childhood known as Leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA. A central goal of Project 3000 is to find every man, woman, and child affected with LCA in the United States -- about 3,000 people -- and offer genetic testing that will help lead to effective treatments and a cure for LCA.

To give some additional meaning and purpose to a ride that is sure to be fun, the cyclists on "Team Project 3000" invite you to support the crucial work of Project 3000 at The University of Iowa.