WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences faculty member Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD was selected to deliver the APVRS International Award Lecture 2026 during the 19th Congress of the Asia-Pacific Vitreo-retina Society (APVRS), held August 28–30, 2026.
For his award lecture, “From Mechanisms to Medicine: Translating Scientific Discoveries into Patient Care,” Apte highlighted more than two decades of scientific discovery and the ongoing efforts to translate research findings into new approaches for understanding, treating and preventing vision-threatening eye diseases.
“This prestigious award is particularly rewarding to me because it honors the more than two decades of dedicated scientific discovery and development and the translation efforts by many committed trainees and personnel in the Apte Lab, and collaborators at WashU Medicine and around the world” said Apte.
Through their research, the Apte Lab has contributed to a deeper understanding of disease pathogenesis and explored how discoveries made in the laboratory can be translated into technologies and treatments that benefit patients.
Apte emphasized the importance of moving discoveries “from the bench to the bedside”—a process that can ultimately make a meaningful difference in patients’ lives by helping prevent vision loss from diverse eye diseases.
The APVRS International Award Lecture recognizes Apte’s sustained commitment to scientific innovation and translational medicine, as well as the collaborative work of the researchers and trainees who have helped advance discoveries from fundamental mechanisms toward potential clinical applications.
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.