Choroideremia Research Foundation Announces June 30 Research Grant Application Deadline
Graduate student Emily Baum (left) works with Dr. Tom Barker, a 2025 CRF-funded researcher, in his lab at the University of Virginia. Photo by Lathan Goumas, UVA Communications.
The Choroideremia Research Foundation is now accepting grant applications for research focused on CHM through June 30.
SPRINGFIELD, MA, UNITED STATES, May 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Choroideremia Research Foundation (CRF) is now accepting applications for its upcoming research grant cycle, with submissions due June 30, 2026.
As a patient-created nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure or effective treatment for choroideremia (CHM), CRF continues to support innovative research aimed at advancing understanding, diagnosis, and treatment development for this ultra-rare inherited retinal disease.
Since 2000, CRF has invested more than $6 million into research and funded over 95 grants supporting scientists and institutions worldwide. This investment supports research that builds critical resources and knowledge for the field, including model systems, genetic insights, and annotated patient specimens. The Foundation also funds innovative projects that open new pathways for diagnosis and drug discovery, as well as promising studies that are less likely to receive traditional funding. These include seed funding for early-stage, hypothesis-generating projects, high-quality proposals from young investigators, and foundational projects with long-term but important payoffs.
“Our objective is to find a cure or effective treatment for choroideremia,” said Kathi Wager, CRF Executive Director. “By funding innovative and promising research projects, CRF aims to accelerate scientific discovery and bring hope to individuals and families affected by CHM.”
Grant Application Categories:
1. Randy Wheelock Research Award
Established in 2020, the Randy Wheelock Research Award honors emerging scientists and early-career research professionals working on choroideremia or related vision loss conditions. The award recognizes the decades-long advocacy of Randy Wheelock in advancing research for CHM.
Eligible applicants include doctoral or post-doctoral candidates and professionals. The award provides $50,000 in funding annually, with a submission deadline of June 30.
2. John Oster Leadership Award
The John Oster Leadership Award honors the late John Oster, one of the founding members of the Choroideremia Research Foundation. His dedication to advancing research and supporting the CHM community helped lay the foundation for CRF’s mission. The award created in his name continues his legacy by supporting research that brings the field closer to effective treatments and a cure.
3. General Research Grants
CRF also accepts applications for general research grants supporting innovative and impactful projects related to choroideremia research and therapeutic development.
All grant applications are reviewed twice annually by CRF’s Science Advisory Board, with submission deadlines on June 30 and December 31. Reviews take place at the end of July and the end of January, respectively.
Applications should follow the CRF Grant Application Guidelines and be submitted through the “Apply for a Grant” section of CureCHM website.
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About Choroideremia:
Choroideremia (CHM) is a rare inherited form of blindness affecting approximately 1 in 50,000 people. Due to its X-linked inheritance pattern, males are most severely affected, with females usually experiencing much milder visual impairment. Symptoms begin in early childhood, with night blindness and restriction of visual field being the earliest noticeable effects, eventually progressing to complete blindness. An estimated 6,000 people in the United States and 10,000 in the European Union are impacted by choroideremia. There are currently no approved treatments for choroideremia. For more information, visit curechm.org/#choroideremia
About the Choroideremia Research Foundation Inc.:
The Choroideremia Research Foundation was founded in 2000 as an international fundraising and patient advocacy organization to stimulate research on CHM. Since its inception, the CRF has provided approximately $6 million in research awards and is the largest financial supporter of CHM research worldwide. Research funded by the CRF has led to the development of a CHM animal model, the pre-clinical production of gene therapy vectors currently in clinical trials, and the CRF Biobank which stores tissue and stem cell samples donated by CHM patients. For more information, or to make a donation to support research, visit curechm.org
Reagan Devinney
Choroideremia Research Foundation Inc
+1 800-210-0233
email us here
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