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Sayer Vision Research Lecture and Award Series

In 2006, Dr. Jane Sayer, a National Institute of Health (NIH) research scientist in National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), established the Sayer Vision Research Lecture and Award at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), in partnership with the National Eye Institute (NEI) at NIH, to honor her family and the memory of her parents, Winthrop and Laura Sayer.

The lecture and award series provides an opportunity for honorees to explore areas of interdisciplinary collaboration, such as angiogenesis, that may lead to advances in diverse medical specialties with relevance to vision research. A number of factors place vision science in a position for major advances in the near future-including the large number of identified genes relevant to eye disease and the relative ease with which pathology can be visualized and documented in the eye.

Forthcoming Lecture

  • February 10, 2026 (3:00-4:30 PM ET)
  • Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, Ph.D., "Targeting Cellular Senescence in Retinal Vascular Disease"
  • Lipsett Amphitheater, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD (NIH videocast link)
     

Dr. Sapieha is the University of Montreal Endowed Chair in Translational Vision Research, Canada Research Chair in retinal cell biology and Full Professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Biochemistry. He is also the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of SemaThera Inc in Montreal and served as Chief Scientist of UNITY Biotechnology in San Francisco. His team identified mechanisms implicating semaphorins, deregulation of neuronal metabolism, innate immune memory and cellular senescence in retinal vascular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This work led to clinical development of senolytics in diabetic eye disease as well as the first clinically tested approaches to regenerate functional vasculature in the retina. He was elected to the College of the Royal Society of Canada and is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Science.

This event sponsored by the National Eye Institute in partnership with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

Individuals with disabilities who need accommodations to participate in this event should contact Ieva Macionyte at ieva.macionyte@nih.gov at least 3 business days prior to the event.

 

 

Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, Ph.D.

Past Lectures

Last updated: January 9, 2026