The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced in October 2011 at the Sixth Annual Gala that a British stem cell scientist working to cure blindness will be the first recipient of The New York Stem Cell Foundation – Robertson Prize in Stem Cell Research, a $200,000 prize awarded annually for extraordinary achievement in translational stem cell research.
The award will go to Professor Peter J. Coffey, DPhil, Director of the London Project to Cure Blindness and Professor of Cellular Therapy and Visual Sciences at the Institute of Ophthalmology in London, for his pioneering work in the use of human embryonic stem cells to cure Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a common form of blindness.
