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.
Past lectures
-
May 26, 2021 – Kapil Bharti, Ph.D., senior investigator and chief, Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research Section, National Eye Institute
Translating Human Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) Biology into Disease Treatments using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells -
May 17, 2019 - Albert La Spada, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, neurobiology, and cell biology, Duke University School of Medicine
Clinical Features and Molecular Basis of the Cerebellar-Retinal Degenerative Disorder Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 7: From Mechanism to Therapy -
November 17, 2017 - Wai T. Wong, M.D., Ph.D., Unit on Neuron-Glia Interactions in Retinal Disease, National Eye Institute Microglia in the Retina: Roles in Health, Aging, and Disease
-
June 28, 2016 - Gonçalo Abecasis, D.Phil, Center for Statistical Genetics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan
Sequencing 10,000s of Human Genomes: Analytical Challenges and Opportunities (note: video is only available to NIH) -
October 14, 2014 - E.J. Chichilnisky, Ph.D., School of Medicine & Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Stanford University
High-resolution Electrical Stimulation of the Retina for Epiretinal Prosthesis Design -
September 12, 2013 - Wei Li, Ph.D., Retinal Neurophysiology Unit, National Eye Institute
Of Squirrels and Men: A Model for Studying Retinal Neurobiology -
April 16, 2012 - Yoshiki Sasai, M.D., Ph.D., laureate of the 2012 Inoue Prize for Science
Self-Organization of Neural Structures in Three-Dimensional Stem Cell Cultures -
June 30, 2011 - Napoleone Ferrara, M.D., winner of the 2010 Lasker Award
Basic Science and Clinical Application of VEGF -
March 10, 2010 - Roger Tsien, Ph.D., winner of The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2008
Breeding and Building Molecules to Spy on Cells and Tumors (note: video is only available to NIH) -
October 20, 2008 - Sally Temple, Ph.D.
Stem Cell Potency - Finding Embryonic-like Cells in the Aged Adult Retina -
October 5, 2007- Krzysztof Palczewski, Ph.D.
G Protein-Coupled Receptor Signaling in Phototransduction -
May 25, 2006 - Martin Friedlander, M.D., Ph.D.
Stemming Vision Loss with Stem Cells