Lighthouse Guild Honors Scientists at Bressler Vision Science Symposium and Pisart Award Lecture

Lighthouse Guild recently honored two scientists for their significant achievements in vision research at the 2017 Alfred W. Bressler Vision Science Symposium and Award Luncheon and the Pisart Award Lecture. The symposium, awards ceremony and lecture were held at The University Club of New York in October.

Russell N. Van Gelder, MD, PhD, was presented with the 2017 Bressler Prize, and Yoshikazu Imanishi, PhD, received the 2017 Pisart Award.

Dr. Van Gelder is the Boyd K. Bucey Memorial Chair, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. His research on non-visual photoreception, an unconventional kind of light-sensitivity sometimes described as “sensing light without sight” has been widely heralded and published.

Dr. Imanishi is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He has solved several critical questions regarding the mechanisms and processes of photoreceptor development and maintenance, elevating the understanding, treatment and diagnosis of eye disorders. He and his laboratory team developed the photo-conversion technique that enables fluorescent labeling of newly synthesized proteins.