Faculty and trainees from the WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences will share their latest discoveries at the upcoming Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting, taking place May 3–7. This premier international conference brings together scientists and clinicians focused on preventing, treating, and curing vision disorders. Participation from WashU Medicine Ophthalmology faculty and trainees highlights the department’s ongoing commitment to advancing research that directly impacts patient care.
In addition to presenting new research, Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI and Cecilia Lee, MD, MS will be recognized with the ARVO Cogan Award. This prestigious honor celebrates outstanding contributions by young investigators in vision science and recognizes innovative research that advances the understanding and treatment of eye disease. Their selection reflects the strength of collaborative discovery and scientific leadership within WashU Medicine Ophthalmology.
Presentations will span a wide range of topics, including retinal disease, glaucoma, imaging innovations, and translational research designed to move discoveries from the lab to the clinic. By collaborating across disciplines and leveraging emerging technologies, our researchers are working to better understand eye disease and develop more personalized, effective treatments. These efforts reflect a strong focus on improving outcomes and preserving vision for patients locally and worldwide.
SATURDAY | May 2, 2026
Phil Williams, PhD
Visualizing retinal ganglion cell metabolism in live mice in health and degeneration
All Day | Poster | Mile High Foyer
SUNDAY | May 3, 2026
Phil Ruzycki, PhD
Loss of variant histone H3.3 from retinal progenitors blocks post mitotic enhancer remodeling and acquisition of cell fate
1:45 PM | Paper | Mile High 4A
2:30 PM | Paper | Mile High 2A/3A
Sharon Sabapathypillai, MD, MS
On-Road Evaluation of Adults with Open Angle Glaucoma Design: Cross-sectional observational study
3:15-3:30 PM | Paper | 403
3:15-5:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
MONDAY | May 4, 2026
Maya Holman
CRX’s Regulatory Functions in Rod Differentiation and Photoreceptor Survival
11:15-1:00 PM | Poster Hall
Brian Clark, PhD
Differential requirement of DNA demethylation for retinal cell fate specification and chromatin architecture
11:15-1:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
Chin I Lin
Inhibition shapes dendritic integration and feature selectivity in the retina
11:15-1:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
TUESDAY | May 5, 2026
Mahsa Bank Tavakoli, PhD
Time to Foveal Involvement in Geographic Atrophy using a Vector Field Approach
9:00 – 9:15 AM | Paper | Mile High 2C/3C
Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD
Accelerating solutions through collaborative research funding: The RPB/AMDF Catalyst Awards for Innovative Approaches for AMD
10:00-10:30 AM | Forum | 4111
Carla J. Siegfried, MD
Cellular Senescence and Oxidative Stress in Human Trabecular Meshwork
1:15-3:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
John Strand
Cup to Disc Ratio Prediction using Segmentations of Optic Nerve Head OCT Scans
1:00-3:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
WEDNESDAY | May 6, 2026
COGAN Award Lecture
Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI and Cecilia Lee, MD, MS
The Advent of Big Data and Machine Learning in Ophthalmology
9:15-10:00 AM | Bluebird Ballroom 2/3
Mae O Gordon, PhD
Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS): 15 year follow-up NEI-25 Vision Specific Quality of Life (VFQ) Before and After Diagnosis of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG)
10:15-12:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
William Clark Carter
Factors impacting response to topical NSAID treatment in uveitic cystoid macular edema
10:15-12:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
Ning Shen, PhD
A genome-wide in vivo CRISPR screen identifies neuroprotective strategies in the mouse and human retina
10:15-12:00 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
Zhipeng (Edward) Ding
mTORC1 Signaling Regulates Growth and Integrity of Mammalian Lens
10:45-11:00 AM | Paper | 401
Chao Ren
Multimodal Evaluation of Murine Uveitis Manifestations Using Dual-Waveband OCT
2:00-3:45 PM | Poster | Mile High 4C
2:00-3:45 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
THURSDAY | May 7, 2026
LinYing Zhang
FlioNet: Predicting Hemoglobin A1c with Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Ophthalmoscopy from AI-READI Data
11:45-1:30 PM | Poster | Poster Hall
Y Kihara
Macular Continuous Severity Prediction from Retinal OCT Using Temporal Pairwise Supervision