The John A. Moran Eye Center's "Campaign for Vision" came into focus Monday with the announcement that the man the center is named after will donate $18 million to the $36 million effort.
"I've been touched by the difficulties and challenges faced by those who suffer from blindness and visual impairment since my childhood," said Moran, a University of Utah alumnus and retired chairman of the Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corp. "I remember my mother would read me stories from the Bible about healing the blind. Looking back, it's those words that have motivated me to support vision research. Through this gift, and gifts to come, it is my hope that the Moran Eye Center will continue to protect the eyesight of those who have it and, God willing, restore the vision of those who have lost it."
He made the announcement during a press conference Monday morning at the existing eye center. The goal of the campaign is to raise money to build a new, 170,000-square-foot center where most of the increased space will be used for research.
The center opened in July 1993. Moran made his first financial commitment to the center in 1988. The donation announced Monday includes $12 million in new money, and through the sale of the old building the new center will recover $6 million of a previous donation to apply to construction, bringing the total to the $18 million lauded by center director Dr. Randall J. Olson, who is also a professor and chairman of the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences in the U.'s medical school.
The basic research at the center embraces artificial vision, vision rescue and restoration, genetics and understanding of the retina. The ophthalmologists at the center also participate in a number of clinical trials, looking for treatment improvements for glaucoma, macular degeneration and other conditions, and evaluate new surgical techniques to correct vision problems.
Christopher Nelson, spokesman for the center, said the facility has successfully recruited nine top international eye researchers in the past year, including Raymond D. Lund, considered to be the top retinal cell transplantation researcher in the world.
The center has also enjoyed success beyond anything the planners could have anticipated when they built the original facility, also necessitating the need for more space.
The Moran Eye Center is the largest eye-care and vision-research center between Texas and the West Coast. Last year, the center and its four satellite clinics in Utah received more than 63,000 patient visits and Moran surgeons performed more than 3,800 surgeries. It is home to 46 faculty members from the ophthalmology department and has 300 staff members.
Moran II will be west of University Hospital and south of Primary Children's Medical Center. Construction will begin in spring 2002.
E-MAIL: lois@desnews.com