HELP SAVE THE SIGHT OF SOMEONE YOU LOVE

 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 [email protected] 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