DOVS News Research

2nd Annual Winston Fellow Competition Winners

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We are thrilled to announce the winners of Washington University John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (DOVS) 2nd Annual Winston Fellow Competition. This event showcased DOVS students and postdocs presenting their cutting-edge research, competing for the esteemed Winston Fellow Awards in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

About the Winston Fellow Awards

The Winston Fellow Awards were established through a generous gift by David (A&S ‘74) and Deborah Winston in December 2022. These awards aim to support graduate students specializing in vision science through the Interdisciplinary Training in Vision Sciences Pathway. The ultimate goal is to foster talented biomedical scientists who will advance vision research and contribute significantly to understanding and treating eye diseases.

Winston Fellow Slides

Presenters and Finalists

The competition featured exceptional presentations from both postdoctoral fellows and graduate students:

Postdoctoral Finalists:

  1. Tim Lee, PhD – Apte Lab
    “Apolipoprotein M attenuates dry age-related macular degeneration phenotypes via sphingosine-1-phosphate signaling and lysosomal lipid catabolism”
  2. Pooja Rathaur, PhD – Bassnett Lab
    “Structural organization and tensile strength of the human ciliary zonule”
  3. Leo Volkov, PhD – Yoshimatsu Lab
    “Müller glia regulate fovea-like cone specialization in zebrafish”

ITVS Graduate Student Finalists:

  • Evelyn Craigen – Clark Lab
    “Temporal cis-regulation of retinal cell fate”
  • Jade Enright – Clark Lab
    “The long noncoding RNA Gm11454 regulates retinal development and photoreceptor function”
  • Chin I Lin – Kerschensteiner Lab
    “Inhibition and arbor morphology shape dendritic integration and feature selectivity in the retina”

Winners

After rigorous evaluation based on scientific merit, presentation skills, and subject matter knowledge, the judges – Shiming Chen, PhD; Phil Williams, PhD; and Qian Wang, PhD – selected the following winners:

  • Postdoctoral Category Winner: Tim Lee, PhD
    • Research Focus: Apolipoprotein M’s role in attenuating dry age-related macular degeneration.
  • Graduate Student Category Winner: Jade Enright
    • Research Focus: The regulatory role of the long noncoding RNA Gm11454 in retinal development and photoreceptor function.
Congratulations to Tim Lee and Jade Enright for their outstanding achievements!

Their contributions represent the cutting edge of vision science research and reflect the high caliber of work being conducted at Washington University Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. We extend our gratitude to all participants and judges for making the 2nd Annual Winston Fellow Competition a resounding success.