11 Year Old Benjamin Krasner, Oprah Winfrey's 2009 "World's Smartest Most Talented Kid" Winner, performs for "Vision in Venice Cure Keratoconus" Launch Party at The G2 Gallery in Venice

11 Year Old Benjamin Krasner, Oprah Winfrey's 2009 "World's Smartest Most Talented Kid" Winner, performs for "Vision in Venice Cure Keratoconus" Launch Party at The G2 Gallery in Venice

June 11th benefit to support the Keratoconus Genetic Research Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 6, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Eye Defects Research Foundation/- "Vision in Venice" will be hosted by The G2 Gallery and will feature 11 year old prodigy, Benjamin Krasner in a rare concert performance. Founder of the Eye Defects Research Foundation, and Director of Ophthalmology Research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Yaron S. Rabinowitz, M.D. will deliver a groundbreaking lecture outlining research advances and introduce the first patient treated for free through the "Cure Keratoconus" outreach program. Due to the economic downturn, more keratoconus patients are suffering financial hardship and are unable to afford treatment. Cure Keratoconus not only supports research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but is the only outreach program to provide expensive surgical treatments to stop the progression of the disease, such as Collagen-Crosslinking or CXL, INTACS, and corneal transplants.

Keratoconus affects 1 in 1,000 people and the goal of the Eye Defects Research Foundation and "Cure Keratoconus," is to fund state-of-the-art molecular genetic and stem cell research and to offer surgical treatment for financially disadvantaged individuals suffering from keratoconus.

Benjamin has won numerous music competitions: Liana Cohen Foundation Music Festival, Southern California Junior Bach Festival, Long Beach Mozart Festival, Southwestern Youth Music Festival, the Helen Brown Music Competition, and the Telluride international Jazz Festival. His first musical composition "Wow!" received First Place at the National PTA Reflection Competition. Benjamin was invited to Moscow by Vladimir Spvakov's Fund to perform at the 2007 "Moscow meets Friends" International Festival. He became the youngest laureate in the International Young Musicians Competition "Passion of Music 2008" at Lincoln Center, NYC.

Date: June 11, 2011 Time: 5 p.m.- 7:30 p.m.
Location: The G2 Gallery 1503 Abbot Kinney Blvd. Venice, CA 90291
Tickets: $75 per person and can be purchased at eyedefectsresearch.org

About The Eye Defects Research Foundation

THE EYE DEFECTS RESEARCH FOUNDATION, FOUNDED IN 1994, IS AN INDEPENDENT NON-PROFIT 501 (C) (3) CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION IS COMMITTED TO CURING BLINDING EYE DISEASE BY SUPPORTING MOLECULAR GENETIC, STEM CELL, AND SURGICAL RESEARCH INTO THE GENETIC DEFECTS OF THE EYE. IN ADDITION, WE SUPPORT CORNEA TRANSPLANTS AND MEDICATION FOR FINANCIALLY DISADVANTAGED BLIND CHILDREN.

SOURCE The Eye Defects Research Association

The Eye Defects Research Association

CONTACT: Jacquie Navratil, Director of Development, The Eye Defects Research Foundation, +1-310-248-7468, jnavratil@eyedefectsresearch.org

Web Site: http://www.eyedefectsresearch.org

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