The Weiss Family & Jack McGovern Coats' Disease Foundation Research Fund
Fund the Research That Could Change the Future of Coats’ Disease
For years, families facing Coats’ Disease have shared a frustrating reality: there is still so much we don’t understand about what causes this vision-threatening condition or how to stop it.
Coats’ Disease is rare, unpredictable, and devastating. Yet research has been slowed by one major barrier: the lack of a reliable model that truly reflects how the disease develops in the body. Without that model, scientists are forced to study the condition in fragments, making it difficult to uncover its root causes or test promising treatments.
This is where a new study offers real hope.
Dr. Leo A. Kim of Mass Eye and Ear and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Tom Lee, and the Jack McGovern Coats' Disease Foundation are working to change the path of Coats’ Disease research. Together, we are developing a novel genetic mouse model centered on IGFBP7 deficiency, a gene increasingly linked to rare retinal vascular disorders with similarities to Coats’ Disease.
Using this model, researchers will carefully examine whether it recreates the key features seen in patients, including abnormal blood vessel growth, leakage, and progressive retinal damage. Advanced imaging, tissue analysis, and machine learning tools will help reveal patterns that have never been clearly visible before.
If successful, this model would be more than a scientific milestone - it would be a turning point. It would give researchers a reliable way to study how Coats’ Disease begins, how it progresses, and most importantly, how it might be stopped. It would open the door to earlier detection, deeper understanding, and the testing of future therapies that could one day preserve vision.
At its core, this work is about building something that has never existed before: a true starting point for answers. And for families affected by Coats’ Disease, that starting point brings us closer to what matters most - hope for a brighter future for all Coats' warriors.
WATCH THE VIDEO:
https://youtu.be/TUIVQ-stxlQ?si=ifNmnrKYmDlsMEFI
