A racing legend will again compete in one of the most prestigious motorsport events in the world, and he will do so with a University of Iowa Tigerhawk logo on his car.

Buddy Lazier has qualified for the 100th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and will race to raise awareness for a cause that is near and dear to his heart—finding treatments and cures for blindness. The University of Iowa's Stephen A. Wynn Institute for Vision Research will be featured on his No. 4 race car for the second time in three years.

“We’re extremely appreciative and extremely proud to be associated with Buddy Lazier, his family, and the Lazier-Burns Racing team,” says Ed Stone, director of the Wynn Institute. “We are working every day to go faster and to win, and, in our case, it’s winning the race against blindness.”

Buddy Lazier, the 1996 Indy 500 champion, and his family are continuing to use the power of “the Greatest Spectacle in Racing” to gain exposure for the Wynn Institute and its research involving inherited eye disorders, including glaucoma—the leading cause of permanent blindness in the world. Millions of people around the world suffer from glaucoma, and thousands are blinded by the condition each year, including Buddy and Kara Lazier’s 14-year-old daughter, Jacqueline, who has lost vision in her right eye.

At the Wynn Institute, the Glaucoma Genetics Laboratory of John Fingert focuses on finding causes and treatments for glaucoma. With one of the largest collections of DNA samples from patients with glaucoma in the world, the UI is well positioned to lead in the battle against glaucoma and search for therapeutic developments using patient-derived stem cells.

With appropriate treatment, glaucoma progression often can be halted, but there is no reversing the damage once it has occurred. Fingert says the Wynn Institute’s partnership with the Laziers is a motivator for him and his staff.

“For all of us, the connection with Buddy has empowered us to work and move as fast as we can toward cures,” says Fingert. “We love having Buddy on our team.”

While the Wynn Institute team is working toward a cure for Jacqueline Lazier’s eye disorder, the bond between the race team and the UI continues to deepen.

“From my perspective, our partnership gives me hope,” says Buddy Lazier. “My daughter has a condition that these folks are working on. We’re all in, and we will do anything we can to help because these guys are making a difference.”

Those interested in supporting the Wynn Institute can visit www.wivr.org.