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| Members of the USA chapter of the Lions Eye Research Institute gather for a special program at the Whiddon College of Medicine. |
To recognize the contributions of the Alabama District 34C Lions Clubs, part of the USA Lions Eye Research Institute (LERI), a special program was held in August at the Whiddon College of Medicine.
Founded in 1990, LERI marks 35 years of support in 2025 for USA scientists and researchers seeking to better understand the causes of — and ultimately end — preventable blindness. Local Lions Club members gathered for lunch and a tour of the instrumentation they helped purchase through donations and grants from the Lions International Foundation.
The total amount of contributions from the Lions Eye Research Board, comprising members from more than 30 Lions Clubs in District 34C, is now more than $1.3 million, said Robert A. Barrington, Ph.D., an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the Whiddon College of Medicine, and a Lions Club member.
“We are truly grateful for the generous support from Lions Club members that spans more than three decades now,” Barrington said. “It continues to be a remarkable example of how civic-minded individuals can have a profound impact on basic science research.”
During the program, Barrington talked about the history of LERI and of the vision scientists supported by the donations and their eye research, including an example of a current project that highlights how gamma delta T cells provide protection against pathology and blindness caused by corneal Herpes Simplex virus 1 infection.
Barrington’s lab studies infectious blindness caused by herpes virus, the leading cause of infectious blindness in the developed world. He also serves as the director of the Office of Research Education & Training, as scientific director of the Flow Cytometry Laboratory, and a member of the Center for Lung Biology.
Present at the meeting was LERI founder Leonard Rich, M.D., a Lions Club member and local ophthalmologist. Along with fellow member Joe Bitzer, Barrington said, the two rallied District 34C Lions to respond to Lions Clubs International's SIGHT FIRST campaign to eradicate preventable blindness by forming LERI, a group with a unique vision to fund basic science eye research to drive medical advances for eye diseases.
With more than 1.4 million members in some 49,000 U.S. and international groups, Lions Clubs International and Lions Clubs International Foundation take on some of the greatest challenges facing local communities and the world through service and grants.
