Ms. Dina Schrage of Merrillville, Indiana, suffered from macular degeneration, a medical condition that results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field. It is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people aged 60 and over.
Prior to her death in 2007, Ms. Schrage asked her family attorney for assistance in determining which institutions and organizations were conducting the most promising research in eye diseases and macular degeneration. Based on the breadth and reputation of research in this area, the University of Iowa's Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration was selected as the beneficiary of her estate gift.
Ms. Schrage's gift creates a permanent endowment to support macular degeneration research and will further efforts to treat, cure and prevent the disease.
The first recipient of this Professorship is Stephen R. Russell, M.D. on November 29, 2010