Our People
Board of Directors
Staff
Scientific Advisors
Honorary Advisory Board
Founders
Board of Directors
Board Officers
Thomas M. Brunner
President and CEO
San Francisco, CA 
Rick Halprin, CPA
Secretary
Director of Professional Affairs (Retired) Colleyville, TX 
Andrew Iwach, MD
Board Chair
Executive Director, Glaucoma Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 
Ruth D. Williams, MD
Vice Chair
Wheaton Eye Clinic, Wheaton, IL 
Charles Wilmoth
Treasurer
Senior Vice President-Portfolio Manager, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, San Francisco, CA
Board Directors
Fred H. Brinkmann
Director, Information Technology (retired), Santa Rosa, CA 
John G. Flanagan, PhD, DSc, FCOptom
Dean, School of Optometry, and Professor of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley 
Nancy S. Forster
Retired Consultant, Forster & Associates Consulting, LLC, San Francisco, CA 
Adrienne Graves, PhD
Independent Director: Iveric Bio, Nicox, Oxurion, Greenbrook TMS NeuroHealth, Surface Ophthalmics, Qlaris Bio, TherOptix, Opus Genetics, Durham, NC 
Linda Linck
Delta Gamma Foundation, Lafayette, CA 
Terri-Diann Pickering, MD
Glaucoma Center of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 
Dennis E. Singleton
Spieker Partners, Menlo Park, CA 
Oluwatosin U. Smith, MD
Glaucoma Associates of Texas, Dallas, TX 
Robert L. Stamper, MD
Distinguished Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Director Emeritus of the Glaucoma Service, University of California, San Francisco, CA
Staff
Our Staff
Thomas M. Brunner
President and CEO
Brizette Castellanos
Manager of Outreach and Social Media
Michelle de Elizalde, DVM
Assistant Director of Patient and Research Programs
Nancy Graydon
Executive Director of Development and Chief Operating Officer
Katherine Grillo
Development Assistant
Andrew L. Jackson
Director of Communications
Isabella Montgomery
Development Associate
Catalina San Agustin
Director of Operations
Maxson Thomas
Individual and Corporate Giving Officer
Morgan Velarde
Director of Philanthropic Engagement and Communications
Christopher E. Wiseman, CMP, DES
Director of Events and Engagement
Scientific Advisors
Catalyst for a Cure Advisory Board: Initiative to Prevent and Cure Neurodegeneration
Adriana Di Polo, PhD
University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
Guojun Bu, PhD
Department of Neuroscience Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 
Shane Liddelow, PhD
Departments of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology NYU Langone Health, New York 
Sally Temple, PhD
New York Neural Stem Cell Institute University at Albany, New York
Catalyst for a Cure Advisory Board: Vision Restoration Initiative
Larry Benowitz, PhD
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA 
Valeria Canto-Soler, PhD
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO 
Jeffrey L. Goldberg, MD, PhD
Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA 
Zhigang He, PhD, BM
Harvard Medical School, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Shaffer Grant Advisory Committee
George A. Cioffi, MD
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 
Adriana Di Polo, PhD
University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
Brad Fortune, OD, PhD
Devers Eye Institute, Legacy Research Institute, Portland, OR 
David S. Friedman, MD, MPH, PhD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 
Christopher A. Girkin, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, Birmingham, AL 
Jeff Gross, PhD
Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin 
Steven L. Mansberger, MD, MPH
Devers Eye Institute, Legacy Health, Portland, OR 
Felipe A. Medeiros, MD PhD
Duke University, Durham, NC 
Jason S. Meyer, PhD
Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN 
Ahmara Gibbons Ross, MD, PhD
University of Pennsylvania, Scheie Eye Institute, Philadelphia, PA 
Joel S. Schuman, MD, FACS
NYU Langone Medical Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 
W. Daniel Stamer, PhD, FARVO
Duke University, Durham, NC 
Ernst R. Tamm, MD
University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany 
Janey L. Wiggs, MD, PhD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 
Monica L. Vetter, PhD
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Honorary Advisory Board
Honorary Advisory Board
F. T. BARR
President and Founder, Afex International, Inc. Houston, Texas GRF Board Emeritus 2003-2009 
June Behrendt Otto
Executive Director, The Edward J. Daly Foundation San Francisco, California GRF Board Emeritus 2001-2010 
Sarah Brown
San Francisco, California GRF Board Emeritus 1989-1995 
Steven Kirsch
Philanthropist and Entrepreneur San Jose, California 
Roger McGuinn
Singer-Guitarist, Co-founder of The Byrds Windemere, Florida 
Robert C. Nevins
Lafayette, California Board Emeritus 1991-1999 
David E. I. Pyott
Former Chairman and CEO of Allergan, Inc. Irvine, California 
Cary R. Rayment
Alcon, Inc. (retired) Cle Elum, WA
Founders
Founders
John Hetherington, Jr., MD
Co-Founder, Glaucoma Research Foundation
(1930–2020) Clinical Professor Emeritus University of California, San Francisco 
H. Dunbar Hoskins, Jr., MD
Co-Founder, Glaucoma Research Foundation, Director Emeritus
Former Executive Vice President, American Academy of Ophthalmology San Francisco, CA 
Robert N. Shaffer, MD, FACS
Co-Founder, Glaucoma Research Foundation
(1912-2007) Clinical Professor Emeritus University of California, San Francisco
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