Accelerate the Cure for Vision Loss and
Blindness from Diabetes; 530 Million People Worldwide at
Risk
The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative has
produced their first PSA campaign to galvanize the public to
support the advancement of medical research to preserve
and restore vision in people with diabetes
Narrated by Kevin
Kline, this PSA includes remarks by Julia
Louis-Dreyfus, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon and is directed by
Academy Award-nominated filmmaker James
Keach
LOS
ANGELES, July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative (MTM Vision) has
launched their first Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign.
Created to honor the iconic actress Mary
Tyler Moore, MTM Vision seeks to make Mary's dream of a
world without vision loss and blindness from diabetes come true.
MTM Vision's PSA educates the public about the critical need
for medical research to find ways to better treat and cure diabetic
retinal disease (DRD) and related vision loss and blindness from
diabetes. Today, more than 530 million people worldwide with
diabetes are at risk for DRD.
Best known for her groundbreaking role as the single,
independent, working woman "Mary
Richards" in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary reshaped
how women were portrayed on TV. Equally pioneering was Mary's MTM
Enterprises independent production company, which changed how
television shows were made. Mary was diagnosed with diabetes at 33
and suffered from vision loss from DRD later in life, ultimately
leading to near-blindness.
Narrated by acclaimed actor Kevin
Kline, a long-time friend of Mary's and diabetes advocate
who, along with Mary, testified before the Senate in 2001 in
support of increased funding for diabetes research, the PSA
includes remarks by Julia
Louis-Dreyfus, Oprah Winfrey, and Reese Witherspoon, whose careers were inspired
by Mary. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker James Keach directed the PSA, which will run for
one year. The campaign's message is clear: "The Sight You Save May
Be That of Someone You Love."
"Mary was a groundbreaking force for change as an actor and
diabetes advocate," said Academy-Award winning actor Kevin Kline. "We testified together before the
Senate on diabetes over 20 years ago, and I am honored to be part
of MTM Vision's first PSA which brings awareness to the urgent need
to support research that prevents vision loss and blindness from
diabetes."
"Diabetic Retinal Disease is the leading cause of blindness in
working-age adults in the world, affecting millions and millions of
people, yet we do not know what we must to prevent and cure it. Our
outdated ways of assessing disease state and risk of progression
focus on the later stages of the disease, missing the opportunity
to treat people earlier to halt its advancement," said Dr. S.
Robert Levine, Mary's husband and
Founder and CEO of MTM Vision. "Our new PSA addresses the critical
need to support research for a cure for DRD. We are committed
to creating better ways to diagnose DRD and predict its risk of
progression, personalize treatments in the early stages, and find
ways to restore vision in later-stage disease."
MTM Vision is a unique non-profit organization with global
reach, solely dedicated to accelerating research for developing new
therapies to preserve and restore vision in people with diabetes.
DRD is a major health challenge in the world that
disproportionately impacts Black, Latinx, and Native American
populations in the U.S. By 2050, more than 1 billion people will
have diabetes. Every one of them will be at risk of vision loss and
blindness from DRD.
As International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation (now Breakthrough T1D), Mary worked for decades to
educate the public on the severity of the disease and its
complications and helped to raise billions of dollars for diabetes
research. She also used her on-screen talent to shed light on
critical societal issues like feminism, equal pay, racism,
antisemitism, the role of women in the workplace, and more, with a
passion for leveraging her voice in the entertainment industry to
be a force for positive change. Dr. Levine founded MTM Vision in
2018 to carry on Mary's legacy of advocating for diabetes research
and to fulfill her dream of a world without vision loss from
diabetes.
WATCH THE PSA: http://youtu.be/u1I2bwCnbKM
To learn more about the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative,
please go to https://www.marytylermoore.org/ and follow us on
Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn.
PRESS KIT: PSA (in 15, 30 and 60 second formats),
campaign assets and photos are available here.
CONTACT:
Please contact MTMVI@id-pr.com for press inquiries.
ABOUT THE MARY TYLER MOORE VISION INITIATIVE
The Mary
Tyler Moore Vision Initiative (MTM Vision) is a one-of-a-kind
non-profit that advances research to preserve and restore vision in
people with diabetes. With a focus on fostering groundbreaking
research and global collaboration among leading academic
institutions, pharmaceutical and medical device companies,
government agencies, tech firms, and entertainment industry
institutions, MTM Vision stands at the forefront of the fight
against diabetic retinal disease and related vision loss and
blindness. Founded by Mary's husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, to honor her legacy of diabetes
research advocacy leadership, MTM Vision's founding partners
include the University of Michigan's
Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute and Kellogg Eye Center,
the Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School and Breakthrough T1D
(formerly JDRF). MTM Vision is a fund of the Entertainment Industry
Foundation (EIF), a public 501(c)(3) organization that supports
ground-breaking programs and campaigns to raise awareness and funds
for issues affecting millions of people worldwide. EIF is a Charity
Navigator Four-Star Charity that meets all 20 Better Business
Bureau charity standards and carries the Candid Platinum Seal of
Transparency. For more information, please go to
https://www.marytylermoore.org/
.
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SOURCE Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative