Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative

Twenty Year Trends in Prevalence and in Incidence of Diabetic Retinal Disease

Ophthalmology Science (January 2025) published a paper titled, “Twenty Year Trends in Prevalence and in Incidence of Diabetic Retinal Disease.” An in-depth review that explores an overview of how the rates of diabetic retinal disease (DRD) and its vision-threatening components (VTDR), diabetic macular edema (DME), and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have changed over the past 20 years. The lead author is Brian L. VanderBeek, MD MPH MSCE.

University of Michigan’s Kellogg Eye Center Annual Report

Personal Experience | Kim Hartman

Preserving an artist’s vision after diabetic retinal disease

For one artist with Type 1 diabetes, losing her vision was her biggest fear. Specialists helped preserve her sight and aim to stop the disease before it starts for others.

December 31, 2024 5:00 AM

Author | Annie Clarkson

Kim Hartman, a talented artist and Type 1 diabetes patient, has always expressed herself through her vibrant paintings and intricate sketches.

But as much as art was her passion, it was also the source of her deepest fear: losing her vision. 

Vision issues are a common but serious complication of all forms of diabetes. 

Since her diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes as a young adult, Hartman had spent years managing the condition’s daily challenges. 

Still, the thought of developing diabetic retinal disease (formerly referred to as diabetic retinopathy) was her worst nightmare.

When vision problems, like eye floaters, began for her, Hartman sought care at Michigan Medicine. 

She was referred to Thomas W. Gardner, M.D., M.S., the Scientific Co-Director of The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative and an ophthalmologist who specializes in diseases of the back of the eye, particularly those caused by diabetes like diabetic retinal disease.

From the moment she met Gardner, Hartman felt a sense of relief. 

“He listened to my fears without judgment and took the time to explain everything to me,” Hartman said. 

“I didn’t feel rushed or dismissed. Instead, I felt like I had someone on my team who genuinely cared about my health, and someone fighting for something deeply personal.”

Gardner’s brothers have Type 1 diabetes as well, driving his motivation to help others with the condition. 

As part of her treatment at Michigan Medicine, Gardner connected her with the multidisciplinary Metabolism, Endocrinology & Diabetes team, which includes diabetes education specialists and nutritionists, to ensure her overall diabetes management was optimized.

“Diabetes is a systemic disease, the eye part is just one manifestation of it,” Gardner said. 

“For ophthalmologists to get the best eye outcome, we want our care to be comprehensive, taking the whole patient into account, to make sure all systemic risk factors are minimized. That’s a real advantage we have here at Michigan Medicine because we have outstanding diabetes specialists.” 

Treating diabetic retinal disease  

While Hartman managed her condition with regular monitoring and lifestyle adjustments, Gardner completed laser treatments to correct bleeding blood vessels and hemorrhaging in the eye, common symptoms of diabetic retinal disease and culprits behind vision loss. 

Although the disease is typically treatable at this stage, these laser treatments often result in lasting vision loss, even as they stop the disease from worsening. 

“We treat diabetic retinal disease now at the equivalent stage of kidney failure,” Gardner said. 

Hartman’s treatment was a success and Gardner says she has a good prognosis for the future of her eyesight. 

“As an artist and parent, my vision is everything. When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I feared losing not just my sight but a part of who I am. Thanks to early intervention and the right care, I’ve been able to preserve my vision — and, with it, my passion for creating. I’m endlessly grateful for the research and treatments that made this possible.” 

A vision initiative

The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative at Michigan Medicine, founded after the actress lost most of her vision from diabetic eye disease, aims to advance research and treatments for diabetic eye diseases.

The hope is to get to patients before retinal bleeding, like what Hartman experienced, begins.

“We put out the fire for Kim, but we want to prevent the fire,” Gardner said. 

“As part of an international initiative, there are clinical studies and analysis of the eyes of people who had diabetes who have donated their eyes to better understand it. We’re working hard to change the whole understanding of the disease and help people like Kim be able to retain their vision.”

“The point is to help Kim and, in doing so, help other people who have diabetes know that they can keep good vision through getting their eyes examined and taking the best possible care of their diabetes,” Gardner said.

Patients like Hartman can also benefit from and contribute to the work of the U-M Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute, a world leader in Type 1 diabetes research. 

CDI researchers seek to prevent, treat, and cure the burdensome complications that diabetes can cause, including efforts to prevent and restore vision loss.  

By continuously working with and learning from patients and partners like Hartman, CDI will continue to lead innovative and collaborative research that focuses on prevention, treatment, and cures for Type 1 diabetes and its devastating complications. 

“Being at an academic medical center like Michigan Medicine made all the difference for me,” Hartman said.

“They have the latest technology and access to research and education that most places don’t but, more than that, they have a collaborative approach that incorporated my needs and preferences.”

Mary Tyler Moore Shocked Viewers With an Iconic Green Dress That’s Still Trending Nearly 50 Years Later

By Marissa Muller

DECEMBER 29, 2024, 12:20PM

It’s been nearly 50 years since Mary Tyler Moore’s green dress shocked viewers on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” But what was created as a punch line, in the 1975 episode “You Try to Be a Nice Guy” — where Moore encourages a former sex worker to branch out into fashion design — has enduring appeal.

Today marks what would have been Moore’s 88th birthday — she passed away in 2017 from cardiopulmonary arrest after contracting pneumonia — and ahead of her birthday, Google searches for Moore’s green dress spiked. There are ample search results for the green dress on social media, where users on TikTok and Twitter continue to share and discuss the dress decades after its debut. Even half a century after it premiered, the dress still feels current.

That’s because the dress was ahead of its time. The amount of skin it showed was bold in 1975, when the boundaries of women’s fashion — in real-life, the workplace, and on TV— were shifting. “She designed it especially for me,” Moore says in the episode of the dress, to which Ted Baxter demands his wife Georgette gets him a glass of water. “It’s very nice,” Georgette says in passing to Moore, adding, “It sure shows off your skin.”

The clothes were a main character on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and the green dress was a star. Moore’s show was not only feminist in narrative, it was also feminist in fashion — using her wardrobe as a vehicle to model how women didn’t have to adhere to older societal norms, and could blaze their own paths in the workplace. 

Moore’s wardrobe was also rooted in realism, which was novel for TV. Costume designer Leslie Hall, who has shaped the visual identity of “Bewitched,” had Moore repeating outfits and creating new ones from mixing pieces, which had never been done before on TV. Hall also secured the first fashion product placement for TV, lining up an exclusive partnership with Evan Picone, which outfitted Moore throughout the seasons and setting the stage for all of the fashion placement partnerships on TV that followed.

As for the green dress, it has continued to live on beyond “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” — and set the stage for iconoclastic dresses to come. The ladder-like cutouts bring to mine the Versace safety pin dress Elizabeth Hurley famously wore in 1994 alongside Hugh Grant at the premiere of “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

The idea of a revealing green dress turning a cultural page also conjures another unforgettable Versace moment: Jennifer Lopez’s plunging, high-slit silk chiffon dress she wore to the 2000 Grammy Awards — the very one that inspired Google Images.

Meanwhile cutout dresses were one of the biggest style takeaways from 2023 and, this year, 2024. Last year labels like Celine, Alexander McQueen, Gucci and many more outfitted stars in whimsical cutout gowns, from Dua Lipa and Hunter Schafer to Cardi B and Vanessa Hudgens. This year, Tyla and Lourdes both embraced the cutout trend, among many other celebrities. Not to mention, cutouts were a breakout trend at the 2024 ESPY Awards.

Read the article here.

RPB-MTM Vision Physician-Scientist Award Recipient: Leo A. Kim, MD, PHD

The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative is proud to announce that Leo Kim has received the Research to Prevent Blindness | Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative 2024 Physician-Scientist Award, which focuses on cutting-edge retinal research to expand relevant knowledge and to develop methods to preserve and restore visual function in people with DRD. Dr. Kim is the Monte J. Wallace Ophthalmology Chair in Retina at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and is currently working on using mRNA as a therapy in the eye. He states, “This therapy is the first to deliver mRNA-based treatments inside the eye. We were pleasantly surprised that we could use this approach inside the eye without causing excessive inflammation. We hope that these early findings can usher in new treatment options for PVR and other eye diseases.” To learn more about Dr. Kim and the study, please visit the link below: https://www.ophthalmologytimes.com/view/mrna-therapy-shows-promise-for-treating-proliferative-vitreoretinopathy

Michigan Matters: Mary Tyler Moore Still Impacting the World

Watch the video here.

By Carol Cain

December 17, 2024 / 10:05 AM EST / CBS Detroit

(CBS DETROIT) — Mary Tyler Moore turned the world on with her megawatt smile as she starred in the iconic “Dick Van Dyke” and “Mary Tyler Moore” shows a generation ago. 

She died of complications from diabetes at the age of 80 in 2017, as she spent the last half of her life helping to raise over $2 billion for research and awareness about the disease.

Her legacy continues as her husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, talked about on CBS Detroit’s Michigan Matters as he started the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative after her death to help find a cure for blindness associated with diabetes, which she suffered from.

Levine talked about the initiative, which, along with the University of Michigan and the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and others, gathered at the Third Annual Fall Symposium on Curing Vision Loss from Diabetes held in Ypsilanti last month.

Levine also talked about their first public service announcement released a few months ago narrated by actor Kevin Kline with remarks from Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon to educate folks about the need for medical research toward the cure of diabetic retinal disease.

MTM Vision Fall 2024 Symposium | Patient Voice

Adriana Plevniak | MTM Vision Lay Advisor

“DRD has taken so much from me; it has felt like an unending series of challenges. While I recognize the many blessings in my life, including my wonderful son, the shadow of this disease often looms large, reminding me of my losses. I only find respite from what has happened to my eyes when I sleep. Injection days are super emotional for me, with my anxiety going through the roof. The therapies available now are barbaric. It is my dream to have the treatments available to patients less traumatic. I mean, who wants a needle in their eyes or a laser? When patients have their appointments, the fear doesn’t go away when they leave. It hangs over us like a dark cloud.” 

MTM Vision Fall 2024 Symposium | Announcement: Boehringer Ingelheim and MTM Vision Join Forces to Combat Vision Loss from Diabetes 

• S. Robert Levine, MD । Founder and CEO, MTM Vision
• Marianne Laouri, PhD, Global Asset Lead, Retinal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals

MTM Vision Fall 2024 Symposium | Welcome

Fall 2024 Symposium

Welcome

To learn more: Symposium Program Book

• Martin G. Myers, Jr., MD, PhD । Director, Elizabeth Weiser Caswell Diabetes Institute, Michigan Medicine
• Shahzad I. Mian, MD । Chair, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan Medical Group 

Dr. Levine’s Introduction and Announcement: Boehringer Ingelheim and MTM Vision Join Forces to Combat Vision Loss from Diabetes

• S. Robert Levine, MD । Founder and CEO, MTM Vision
• Marianne Laouri, PhD, Global Asset Lead, Retinal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals

Patient Voice

Adriana Plevniak | MTM Vision Lay Advisor

“DRD has taken so much from me; it has felt like an unending series of challenges. While I recognize the many blessings in my life, including my wonderful son, the shadow of this disease often looms large, reminding me of my losses. I only find respite from what has happened to my eyes when I sleep. Injection days are super emotional for me, with my anxiety going through the roof. The therapies available now are barbaric. It is my dream to have the treatments available to patients less traumatic. I mean, who wants a needle in their eyes or a laser? When patients have their appointments, the fear doesn’t go away when they leave. It hangs over us like a dark cloud.” 

Translating Science to Clinical Care for Diabetic Retinal Disease

MTM Vision Update:  Jennifer Sun, MD, MPH । Science Co-Director, MTM Vision

Perspectives

• Aude Couturier, MD PhD। Professor of Ophthalmology, Paris Cité University; Deputy Head of the Ophthalmology Department, Lariboisière and Saint-Louis University Hospitals; Project leader EviRED (Evaluation Intelligente de la Rétinopathie Diabétique). Preliminary findings from EviRED natural history study. 
• Malvina Eydelman, MD। Director of the Office of Health Technology Ophthalmic, Anesthesia, Respiratory, ENT and Dental Devices, Office of Product Evaluation and Quality, Food and Drug Administration, Maryland, USA. Food and Drug Administration Regulation of Medical Products for DRD 

Panelists

• Michael Abramoff, MD, PhD। University of Iowa 
• Jason McAnany, PhD। University of Illinois College of Medicine 
• Sandy Puczynski, PhD । MTM Vision Lay Advisor 

Therapeutics Target Identification Through Human Tissue and Fluid ‘Omics

MTM Vision Update:  Patrice Fort, PhD । Director, MTM Vision Ocular Biorepository & Resource Center

Perspectives

• Roger Cone, PhD । Mary Sue Coleman Director & Research Professor; Vice Provost and Director, U-M Life Sciences Institute; Professor, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, U-M Medical School; Professor, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, LSA. Process and resources for target identification and drug development.
• Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, PhD । Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, SemaThera Inc. From target identification to drug development for ocular diseases.

Panelists

• Lloyd Paul Aiello, MD, PhD । Harvard Medical School
• Eric Ng, PhD | Eyebiotech Limited, a subsidiary of Merck & Co, Inc (Rahway, NJ)
• Subramaniam Pennathur, MD। University of Michigan
• Judy Hunt, MBA। MTM Vision Lay Advisor

Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Approaches to Diabetic Retinal Disease

MTM Vision Update: S. Robert Levine, MD । Founder and CEO, MTM Vision

Perspectives 

• Tien-en Tan, MBBS(Hons), MMed(Ophth), FRCOphth, FAMS । Clinical Assistant Professor, SingHealth Duke-NUS Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Program. Multi-modal AI for enhanced diagnosis, risk stratification and prognostication in DRD.
• Brian VanderBeek, MD, MPH, MSCE । Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB)-MTM Vision Physician Scientist Award Winner; Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania. Use of real-world data for better understanding of DRD and population-level differences.

Panelists 

• Chris German, PhD। Chair, MTM Vision Lay Advisory Committee
• Kerry Goetz, PhD। National Eye Institute
• Tunde Peto, MD, PhD। Queens University Belfast

Hot Topics

Facilitator: Chris German, PhD । Chair, MTM Vision Lay Advisory Committee

Perspectives

• Awareness Crisis in DRD: Paolo Silva, MD। Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School:
• Gait Assessment in the Evaluation of Functional Vision: Amanda Bicket, MD । Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Michigan
• Developing a Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) for DRD – Creating tools to capture patient voices: Fernanda (Maria) Abalem, MD, MSC, PhD । Faculty, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Vitreous analysis for clinical assessment, staging, and patient selection for clinical trials: Jeffrey M. Sundstrom, MD, PhD । Associate Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology, Neural and Behavioral Science, and Ophthalmology, Penn State University

Future Directions: Restoring Vision in DRD: Lessons from the Inherited Retinal Diseases (IRD) Field

Moderator: Mark Pennesi, MD, PhD। Professor of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University; Director, Ophthalmic Genetics at the Retina Foundation

Perspectives 

• Rebecca Pfeiffer, PhD । Research Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology & Visual Science, John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah: Pathoconnectomics: Rewiring in Retinitis Pigmentosa.
• Rachel Huckfeldt, MD, PhD । Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Fellowship Director, Inherited Retinal Degenerations Fellowship, Mass Eye & Ear: How has the consortium helped the field of IRDs and the importance to discovery of natural history studies which incorporate functional markers and endpoints.

Panelists 

• James Weiland, PhD । University of Michigan
• Adriana Plevniak । MTM Vision Lay Advisor

Dr. and Lady Glaucomflecken

Will Flanary, MD and Kristin Flanary, MA – aka “Dr. Glaucomflecken” and “Lady Glaucomflecken.”

Will and Kristin Flanary share how their medical experiences led to the creation of their personas as Dr and Lady Glaucomflecken and their resulting advocacy work in eye health and co-survivorship, blending humor and education to raise awareness and promote change.

MTM Vision Consortium | Boehringer Ingelheim Collaboration

• Shelby Unsworth, PhD । Associate Director, Business Development, Michigan Medicine
• Marianne Laouri, PhD । Global Asset Lead, Retinal Health, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals

MTM Vision Communications, Collaborations and Fund Development

Moderator: Eric Carlson । Founder, The Carlson Company, Social Impact & Media, Award Winning Documentary and Film Producer: Public outreach, media relations, and fund development  

Panelists

• Betsy Cote। Joslin Diabetes Center
• Chris Shoemaker । University of Michigan
• Maurine Slutzky । Stand Up to Cancer
• Sandy Puczynski, PhD । MTM Vision Lay Advisor

Summations

• Lloyd Paul Aiello MD, PhD । Professor of Ophthalmology, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School
• S. Robert Levine, MD । Founder and CEO, MTM Vision Initiative

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