Casino mogul Steve Wynn donates $25 million to find cure for eye disease he has

IOWA CITY, Iowa Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn will donate $25 million to the University of Iowa to accelerate the search for cures to rare eye diseases including the one that hampers his own vision, the school announced Thursday.

The donation, to be paid over five years, will support the Institute for Vision Research, will be renamed in honor of the billionaire chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd. The institute is a leader in genetic testing for eye disease and seeks to develop gene and stem cell therapies that could restore vision.

Wynn, 71, has retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that affects one in 4,000 people and causes night blindness and weakness in peripheral vision. A fixture at Las Vegas galas, he's often seen leaning on an aide's arm at nighttime events.

"As a person who knows firsthand what it is like to lose vision from a rare inherited eye disease, I want to do everything I can to help others who are similarly affected," he said in a statement. "I am thrilled by the pace of the scientific progress that has occurred in the past few years and I feel that the prospect of finding a cure is possible and probable in the short term and certain in the long term."

University President Sally Mason announced the "inspirational" donation during a Thursday meeting of the Board of Regents.

Wynn, a University of Pennsylvania alum, has no prior ties to Iowa. But he and a longtime associate, Steve Dezii, who directs Wynn's foundation, have long-supported eye research and are acquainted with many top scientists, including institute director Ed Stone.

The institute offers genetic testing worldwide, and has developed expertise in discovering and understanding mutations that cause retinitis pigmentosa and other diseases. The institute aims to use that knowledge to develop gene therapies, including transplanting corrected genes into eye tissue.

Researchers are working out how to restore vision for those with advanced disease by growing photoreceptor cells from adult stem cells that could be transplanted into their eyes. Stone said the institute has learned how to grow the cells, and that testing on mice has been encouraging. He said he believed such treatment could be available within a decade.

Wynn's donation is double the institute's annual $12 million budget. The institute, which has 30 faculty and 100 staff, is expected to double its laboratory space and hire 10 new faculty from among the brightest in the field, Stone said.

"We want to ... translate that money into effective treatments as fast as we can," he said.

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Casino mogul Steve Wynn donates $25 million to find cure for eye disease he has