ARVO annual meeting lands in Orlando
A compelling lineup of speakers and award winners.
Over the past few years, the Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting has strayed from its traditional Fort Lauderdale venue to go on the road. Last year’s meeting was in Seattle. Next year, the event will be in Denver. This year, the meeting is back in Florida from May 4 through 8, but in Orlando rather than Fort Lauderdale.
The theme of the 2014 annual meeting is how ARVO members demonstrate leadership. This leadership often takes the form of “leading-edge” research that may begin with vision but that creates new knowledge and benefits in many related areas, including neuroscience, tissue imaging, preventive health and others. The approximately 11,000 attendees at this year’s ARVO meeting will listen to keynote lectures from speakers with star power and also hear from achievement award winners who will explain research efforts that were deemed worthy of recognition.
KEYNOTE LECTURES
Prof. Barry Marshall, Nobel Laureate |
Prof. Barry Marshall, Nobel Laureate
How curiosity-driven research can lead to the Nobel Prize
Sunday, May 4, 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.
The Australian doctor was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for his work (along with Dr. Robin Warren) in proving the bacterium Helicobacter pylori was responsible for peptic ulcers. Prior to his work, prevailing wisdom held that stress and diet caused ulcers.
Dr. Marshall’s lecture will explain how curiosity-driven research can lead to outstanding new discoveries and paradigm shifts in science, taking examples from such Nobel Prize winners as Albert Einstein, Kart Mullis, James Watson and Francis Crick, all of whom made discoveries outside of the laboratory with little infrastructure in a relatively short time.
Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, FARVO |
Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, FARVO
Seeing the light with retinal gene therapy. Things you wish you would have known early on the way to late-stage trials
ARVO’s own Jean Bennett, the first woman to be an ARVO annual meeting keynote speaker, will focus on her team’s experiences in developing retinal gene therapy, bringing behind-the scenes perspectives from the surgeon, the young patient — who is now sighted — and others. Through this interactive presentation, Dr. Bennett will offer examples of opportunities, surprises, challenges and successes that could confront new investigators.
ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
Wolfgang Baehr, PhD, FARVO |
Proctor Medal
Wolfgang Baehr, PhD, FARVO,
Membrane protein transport in photoreceptors.
Monday, May 5, 5:45 to 6:30 p.m.
The Proctor Medal is presented annually to recognize outstanding research in the basic or clinical sciences as applied to ophthalmology. Dr. Baehr, of the University of Utah, School of Medicine, has impacted the understanding of phototransduction and remained a cornerstone of photoreceptor biochemistry.
He pioneered the application of molecular biology to phototransduction research by employing newly discovered technologies to sequence cDNAs encoding the proteins. He has made significant contributions to the understanding of the basic biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics of photoreceptors, as well as the molecular and genetic mechanisms of retina diseases. Since 1968, Dr. Baehr has published more than 170 manuscripts, book chapters, reviews and editorials.
Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD |
Friedenwald Award
Krzysztof Palczewski, PhD
Structural biology of the fundamental steps in vision
Wednesday, May 7, 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.
The Friedenwald Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding research in the basic or clinical sciences as applied to ophthalmology. Dr. Palczewski, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, has played a key role in fundamental discoveries pertaining to the biochemistry of phototransduction and retinoid metabolism.
His research has helped identify genetic mutations in blinding diseases and the discovery of novel methods for their treatment. He made contributions to the historic determination of the three-dimensional structure of the visual pigment molecule, rhodopsin. His research contributions include more than 370 peer-reviewed scientific articles published since 1983, a formidable grant history and a lasting influence on other investigators in his areas of research.
Jose Cunha-Vaz, MD, PhD |
Weisenfeld Award
Jose Cunha-Vaz, MD, PhD
Phenotypes and biomarkers of diabetic retinopathy
Monday, May 5, 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.
The Weisenfeld Award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of distinguished scholarly contributions to the clinical practice of ophthalmology. Dr. Cunha-Vaz, of the Association for Innovation and Biomedical Research on Light and Image (AIBILI), is recognized as a prolific innovator in ophthalmic research for his work over the past five decades as well as his important contributions to scientific and clinical literature.
He has been a leader in many organizations and institutions, including his time as chief editor of Ophthalmologica, president of the European Society of Retinal Specialists and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Coimbra.
He inaugurated an impressive list of ophthalmic institutions, such as AIBILI, a non-profit organization in Portugal that houses a clinical trials center. Dr. Cunha-Vaz has received a large number of awards, honors and prizes and his publications list includes more than 460 citations.
Kirill Martemyanov, PhD |
Cogan Award
Kirill Martemyanov, PhD
G protein signaling in the retina and beyond
Wednesday, May 7, 5:45 to 6:30 p.m.
The Cogan Award recognizes a young researcher age 40 years or younger at the time of nomination. This person will have made important contributions to research in ophthalmology or visual science that are directly related to disorders of the human eye or visual system, and who shows substantial promise for the future.
In just 12 years, Dr. Martemyanov, of the Scripps Research Institute in LaJolla, Calif., has made a series of seminal contributions, published in some of the top scientific journals, to the understanding of G-protein signaling in photoreceptors, ON-bipolar cells and throughout the central nervous system.
His postdoctoral research discoveries laid the foundation for two landmark studies on visual function, involving multiple groups of collaborating investigators for major advances in the understanding of the mechanism by which the temporal resolution of vision is regulated at the molecular level. His research in both retina and brain have brought him wide recognition in the GPCR signaling community. OM