The 17th Annual OU Vision Workshop was held on September 12-13, 2024. We were honored to welcome Dr. Reza Dana, the Claes H. Dohlman Professor of Ophthalmology, Vice-Chair of Academic Programs in Ophthalmology, Senior Scientist and W. Clement Stone Clinical Research Scholar at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the Director of the Harvard Vision Clinical Scientist Development Program at Harvard Medical School. On Thursday, Dr. Dana presented the 8th Anderson Keynote Lecturer titled New Ways of Doing Old Things: Translational Investigations in Management of Common Corneal and Ocular Surface Disorders. On Friday morning after breakfast, Dr. Dana presented two career development talks titled The Do's and Don'ts in Giving Scientific Talks and How to Work with People You Don't Like. Fifteen young vision researchers, including graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research technicians, residents, and visiting scholars, presented their research all day on Friday the 13th.
A celebratory awards dinner followed on Friday evening at The Lume in OKC. Graduate student Becca Wells from Dr. Kevin Fuller's lab won the Anderson Award for Best Presentation, Dr. Eric Ma, a postdoctoral fellow from Dr. Courtney Griffin's lab at OMRF won the Dr. Wei Cao Innovation Award, and Dr. Kasia Zyla-Jackson, a postdoctoral fellow and T32 Vision Training Grant trainee from Dr. Scott Plafker's lab at OMRF won the DMEI Promising Research award. Eric also won the abstract book cover photo competition, while Eniola Adewunmi, a graduate student from Dr. Martin-Paul Agbaga's lab, won the JVRC Leadership Award. Friday the 13th was certainly a great day for everyone!
A special THANK YOU! to our Organizing Committee: Drs. Yan Chen, Michelle Callegan, and Raju Rajala co-chaired the workshop this year with trainee co-organizers Drs. Neeraj Chauhan, Katarzyna Zyla-Jackson, Eric Ma, and graduate students Luis Longoria-Gonzalez, Becca Wells, Olawale Bankole, Jennifer Ballheim, and Anna Usoltseva. Special thanks goes to Melody Marcum, DMEI Director of External Relations and Development, our Chair, Dr. Mike Siatkowski, and the DMEI for its unwavering support of our young vision researchers.
Stay tuned for information about the 18th Annual OU Vision Workshop in Fall 2025.