Celebrity Measurements

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Multi-platinum-selling artist and songwriter Chris Janson will perform at global brain and vision research nonprofit BrightFocus Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Gala and Awards dinner on June 14 in Washington, D.C.

Named “a live legacy in the making” by Rolling Stone, Janson’s hits include the triple-platinum “Buy Me a Boat,” “Fix A Drink,” “Good Vibes,” “Done,” and “Things You Can’t Live Without.” 

Janson has collaborated with such iconic country artists as Hank Williams Jr., Tim McGraw, Eric Church, Blake Shelton, and Travis Tritt. “Boat” was named to the Nashville Songwriters Association International’s prestigious “Songs I Wish I’d Written” list; the artist is also a Grand Ole Opry member and frequent headliner at the nation’s biggest sold-out festivals and tours.

“We look forward to featuring Chris Janson and honoring today’s leaders in Alzheimer’s, glaucoma, and macular degeneration research at our 50th-anniversary event,” said Stacy Haller, President and CEO, BrightFocus Foundation. “Research is the only key to ending these devastating mind and sight diseases that affect more than 300 million people worldwide.”

The Gala will take place at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and will highlight the impact of numerous scientific breakthroughs attributable to BrightFocus Foundation’s 50 years of biomedical research funding. 

Discoveries by BrightFocus-funded scientists have shaped the field for decades and include many groundbreaking “firsts,” including the development of the first widely accessible blood test in the U.S. to identify early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, the first-ever reversal of age-related vision loss and eye damage from glaucoma using gene therapy, and the world’s first artificial intelligence model that detects Alzheimer’s by reading a patient’s retina images.

Learn more and register at BrightFocus.org/Gala2023.

Three awards honoring excellence in research science and advocacy will be presented: 

• BrightFocus Scientific Impact Award: Gerard D. Schellenberg, PhD (Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania)
• Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research: Mae Gordon, PhD, and Michael Kass, MD (Washington University School of Medicine)
• BrightFocus Community Impact Award: Debra Tann, EdD (Reminiscent)

Four leading BrightFocus-funded scientists will showcase the latest breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma research during the event’s cocktail hour: Ganesh Babulal, MSCI, OTD, PhD (Washington University School of Medicine); Oleg Butovsky, PhD (Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Thomas V. Johnson III, MD, PhD (Johns Hopkins University); and Daisy Shu, PhD (Harvard Medical School). 

Previous hosts and entertainers at BrightFocus’ annual gala include the Glen Campbell family; “Will & Grace” star Eric McCormack; actor/director William H. Macy; actor Keith Carradine; composer Jimmy Webb; actor/musician Peter Gallagher; producer/director James Keach; award-winning chef Aarón Sánchez; fitness pioneer John Lewis; and MSNBC/NBC News anchor Richard Lui.

About BrightFocus Foundation

BrightFocus Foundation is a premier nonprofit funder of research to defeat Alzheimer’s, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. Through its flagship research programs—Alzheimer’s Disease Research, National Glaucoma Research, and Macular Degeneration Research—the Foundation is currently supporting a $75 million portfolio of 287 scientific projects worldwide. BrightFocus has awarded nearly $275 million in groundbreaking research funding over the past 50 years and shares the latest research findings, expert information, and resources to empower the millions impacted by these devastating diseases. Learn more at Brightfocus.org.

*Press images available

SOURCE BrightFocus Foundation