Winston Fellow Competition 2026
The Winston Fellow Award Program recognizes excellent contributions to vision science by sponsoring an annual $5,000 graduate student award and a $2,500 postdoctoral award.
Join us for the postdoctoral Winston Fellow Competition during the Vision Research Forum on Friday, May 29, 2026, at 11:30 a.m. in the FLTC Connor Auditorium.
Postdoctoral finalists for the Winston Fellow Award, selected through abstract submission, will present their innovative vision science research.
Postdoctoral Presenters List:
Andrew Jo, PhD | Kerschensteiner Lab
John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
“A conserved multiplexed retinal channel for active vision”
Poonam Naik, PhD | Apte Lab
John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
“Targeting choroidal neovascularization by chimeric antigen receptor macrophage (CAR-M) therapy”
Ismael Hernandez-Nunez, PhD | Clark Lab
John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
“DNA demethylation is required for retinal development, cell fate specification, differentiation, and function”
Siqi Sun, PhD | Zhang Lab
Institute for Informatics, Data Science, & Biostatistics
“Multimodal prediction of visual improvement in diabetic macular edema using real-world electronic health records and optical coherence tomography”
Saman Behboudi Tanourlouee, DVM | Williams Lab
John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
“Different survival of retinal ganglion cells and amacrine cells in branch retinal vein occlusion”
Minglei Zhao, PhD | Williams Lab
John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
“Defining the features of primary cilia in the retinal ganglion cells”
All presentations will be judged on scientific merit by a panel of faculty judges. Details for a reception to celebrate the winners of both the student and postdoc Winston Fellow Awards will be announced.
In-person attendance is strongly encouraged, but virtual attendance is available upon request by contacting Jenna Krizan at krizanj@wustl.edu.
In December 2022, David (A&S ‘74) and Deborah Winston made a generous gift to establish the Winston Fellow Award in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
This unique award will support graduate students who are receiving specific training in vision science through the Interdisciplinary Training in Vision Sciences Pathway. The overall goal of the program is to attract a group of gifted, well-trained biomedical scientists to careers in vision research to continue unlocking the mysteries of eye disease.