Arthur W. Stickle Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
On February 11, the WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences community gathered to honor Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI as the newly installed Arthur W. Stickle Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences. The installation ceremony, featured Lee’s compelling talk, “From Pixels to Practice: Deep Learning in Ophthalmology and Beyond.”
Lee’s appointment as Chair of the John F. Hardesty, MD, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences marks a pivotal moment for the department’s future. A nationally recognized surgeon-scientist, he leads a cutting-edge research program at the intersection of ophthalmology, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep learning — translating computational breakthroughs into better diagnosis, understanding, and care for eye disease.
David H. Perlmutter, MD, Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin 
Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, 
David H. Perlmutter, MD, Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, Cecilia Lee, MD, MS and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin 
Washington University School of Medicine’s installation ceremony of Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI as the Arthur W. Strickland Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. 
Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI presents “From Pixels to Practice: Deep Learning in Ophthalmology and Beyond.” at Washington University School of Medicine’s installation ceremony of Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI as the Arthur W. Strickland Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. 
Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI presents “From Pixels to Practice: Deep Learning in Ophthalmology and Beyond.” at Washington University School of Medicine’s installation ceremony of Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI as the Arthur W. Strickland Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
“It was truly an honor to celebrate this installation alongside colleagues, mentors, trainees, and the broader WashU Medicine community. I am deeply grateful to everyone who joined in person and online, as well as to the generous donors and medical school leadership whose presence and support mean so much. I also spoke about the exciting potential of artificial intelligence and how it is reshaping medicine — creating new opportunities to advance discovery, improve diagnosis, and ultimately deliver better care for our patients.”
Aaron Y. Lee MD MSCI
Advancing Vision Science Through AI and Deep Learning
Lee’s research focuses on developing interpretable, generalizable AI models that integrate multimodal clinical data, from retinal imaging to electronic health records, to detect and characterize eye disease with unprecedented accuracy. His work has included:
- AI-powered retinal imaging insights that improve detection and severity scoring for conditions like age-related macular degeneration.
- Creation of novel deep learning frameworks that adapt across imaging modalities with minimal additional training data.
- Contributions to innovative severity scores for rare retinal diseases such as macular telangiectasia type 2.
- Leading large-scale initiatives to create ethically governed, multimodal datasets that accelerate equitable research in eye and systemic disease.
- Collaborations with the U.S. FDA to help develop regulatory guidance for safe and effective clinical deployment of AI in eye care.
His team’s work underscores how deep learning — a subset of machine learning — can turn vast clinical image repositories into actionable insights, advancing both research and clinical practice. For example, peer-reviewed studies show that deep neural networks can classify optical coherence tomography (OCT) images — a cornerstone of retinal imaging — with high diagnostic accuracy, laying the groundwork for automated screening tools.
Honoring Arthur W. Stickle’s Legacy
The Arthur W. Stickle Distinguished Professorship honors the legacy of Arthur W. Stickle, MD, who began his connection to Washington University in 1948 and completed his residency training in 1952. Grateful for the education and professional foundation he received, Dr. Stickle remained deeply committed to supporting the department’s continued growth and academic excellence. In establishing the endowment, he shared, “It’s nice to be able to give back to the university. They’ve done so much for me through the training I received and through the support I received during my practice. This is my way of making a lasting contribution.” Endowed professorships such as this one sustain faculty leadership, advance research innovation, and strengthen patient care for generations to come.
This moment reflects not just a personal milestone, but a shared commitment to building a future where technology and human insight come together to move not just ophthalmology but medicine forward.
Aaron Y. Lee MD MSCI
Looking Ahead
Dr. Lee’s installation reflects a broader commitment at WashU Medicine to harness innovation — from AI to deep clinical data analysis — in pursuit of better outcomes for patients with eye and systemic diseases. Through multidisciplinary collaboration and forward-thinking research, the department continues to shape the future of ophthalmic care.
About WashU Medicine
WashU Medicine is a global leader in academic medicine, including biomedical research, patient care and educational programs with 2,900 faculty. Its National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding portfolio is the second largest among U.S. medical schools and has grown 56% in the last seven years. Together with institutional investment, WashU Medicine commits well over $1 billion annually to basic and clinical research innovation and training. Its faculty practice is consistently within the top five in the country, with more than 1,900 faculty physicians practicing at 130 locations and who are also the medical staffs of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals of BJC HealthCare. WashU Medicine has a storied history in MD/PhD training, recently dedicated $100 million to scholarships and curriculum renewal for its medical students, and is home to top-notch training programs in every medical subspecialty as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology and communications sciences.