National Institutes of Health
National Eye Institute
Minutes of the National Advisory Eye Council
One Hundred Seventy Fifth Meeting
June 5, 2026
The National Advisory Eye Council (NAEC) convened its 175th meeting virtually at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 5, 2026. The meeting was publicly broadcast by the NIH videocast system. Dr. Michael F. Chiang, Director of the National Eye Institute (NEI), presided over the Council as Chair. Dr. Hyo-Jung (Anna) Han served as Executive Secretary. The meeting was open to the public from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30am. The meeting was closed to the public from 10:30am until 11:30am for the Board of Scientific Counselors Report.
Council Members Present:
Dr. Michael F. Chiang, Chair
Dr. Anna Han, Executive Secretary
Dr. Maria Grant
Dr. Donald Mutti
Dr. Pradeep Ramulu
Dr. Victor Perez Quinones
NIH Staff Members Present:
Shawn Adolphus
Neeraj Agarwal
Houmam Araj
Sangeeta Bhargava
Kapil Bharti
Rylee Brauer
Nathan Brown
Jacquelin Paniagua Calderon
Alysia Champagne
Alexandra Chang
Emily Chew
Roland Colbert
Tiffany Cook
Jeffrey Cozart
Kristi Creel
John Dennis
Charles Drinnan
Mala Dutta
Charles Egwuagu
Milton English
Donald Everett
Martha Flanders
Ashley Fortress
Alexandra Fritz
Ellaine Galindez Balut
Shaojian Gao
Alexandra Gavrilovic
Susan Gillmor
Tarekegn Gobezie
Nataliya Gordiyenko
Tony Gover
Natalie Haynes
Steven Henle
Gleysin Cabrera Herrera
Ellen Hilburn
Rose Minaff Hood
Amin Jafarnia
Ji Jeong
Natalie Kashlinsky
Tiarnan Keenan
Stephanie Kennedy
Anjani Kumari
Mikhail Laryukhin
Jimmy Le
Richard Lee
Paekgyu Lee
Jennifer Lei
Tao Liu
Renee Livshin
Nikitha Maan
Natanya Malcolm
Barbara Mallon
George Mckie
Omar Memon
Kiyoharu Miyagishima
Archana Mohale
Amelia Naik
Jacob Nellissery
Lisa Neuhold
Vu Nguyen
Robert Nonato
Robert O’Hagan
Angelica Ortiz
Soumitra Pal
Cesar Perez Gonzalez
Rebecca Philogene
Gyan Prakash
Melanie Reagan
Maryann Redford
Melissa Reeves
Carissa Reilly Weedon
Yuliya Romanova
Fnu Ruchi
Jessica Ryan
David Schneeweis
Merideth Shifflett
Azadeh Shoaibi
Nivedita Singh
Hongman Song
Aurea De Sousa
Afia Sultana
Anand Swaroop
Joanna Szczepanik
Candace Teague
Mojtaba Tofighbakhsh
Alastair Tulloch
Santa Tumminia
Erica Vass
Bronte Williams Washington
Claire Weber
Leslie West Bushby
Charles Wright
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
—Dr. Michael Chiang, Chair, NAEC, and Director, NEI
Dr. Michael Chiang opened the 175th meeting of the National Advisory Eye Council, welcoming participants and noting that the open session would be held entirely virtually. He invited attendees to introduce themselves, beginning with NEI leadership. Dr. Hyo Jung (Anna) Han introduced herself as the Executive Secretary and Designated Federal Official for the Council, followed by Dr. Santa Tumminia, Deputy Director of NEI. Dr. Chiang then invited Council members to introduce themselves in order of appearance on his screen.
Dr. Pradeep Ramulu shared that he is a glaucoma specialist at Johns Hopkins and would soon be transitioning to serve as Chair at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Dr. Maria Grant joined from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Dr. Donald Mutti from The Ohio State University College of Optometry. Dr. Victor Perez was not yet present at the time of introductions.
Dr. Chiang congratulated Dr. Ramulu on his upcoming leadership transition and clarified that it would not affect his role on Council. He then outlined the structure of the day’s open session, which would focus primarily on his Director’s Report and subsequent discussion.
COUNCIL PROCEDURES AND RELATED MATTERS
—Dr. Anna Han, Executive Secretary, NAEC, and Acting Director, Division of Extramural Activities (DEA)
Dr. Han thanked participants for joining early in the morning and extended a welcome to NEI staff from both intramural and extramural programs, colleagues from the Center for Scientific Review (CSR), and members of the public attending via videocast. She expressed appreciation to Nathan Brown for managing the behind the scenes logistics essential for successful virtual Council operations.
She reviewed virtual meeting etiquette:
- Participants should identify themselves by full name when speaking to support those who are visually impaired.
- Names in Microsoft Teams must appear accurately for attendance documentation.
- Non Council participants should keep cameras off.
- Individuals should remain muted unless speaking and use the “Raise Hand” feature to ask questions.
- The Teams chat should not be used because videocast viewers cannot access it, and all public meeting communications must remain accessible.
Dr. Han reminded Council members that, as Special Government Employees, they may not engage in lobbying activities while receiving federal compensation, including during virtual participation.
She noted that future Council meeting dates are posted on the agenda and the NEI website, emphasizing the next open session would occur on September 25, reflecting a shift from the usual October timeframe. She invited questions before turning the floor back to Dr. Chiang.
NEI DIRECTOR’S REPORT
—Dr. Michael F. Chiang
Dr. Chiang thanked Dr. Han and reiterated appreciation for the efforts of Nathan Brown, and the broader team supporting Council operations. He acknowledged colleagues joining from CSR and briefly highlighted ongoing efforts to recruit additional Council members. Dr. Chiang also announced plans to hold the September meeting in person in Bethesda and noted that NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya had agreed to speak at that session.
He then began his Director’s Report, organized into major themes aligned with NEI’s mission.
Leadership and Institute Updates
Dr. Chiang updated the Council on recent leadership transitions across NIH:
- NICHD — Dr. Alison Cernich retired; Dr. Rohan Hazra is serving as Acting Director.
- CSR — Dr. Bruce Reed retired; Ray Jacobson is now Acting Director.
- NIAMS — Dr. Lindsey Criswell departed; Dr. Anna Mazzuco is serving as Acting Director.
- NIH Clinical Center — Dr. Jonathan Green was appointed Director.
- Office of the Director — Elizabeth Armstrong (Chief of Staff) and Kaitlin Shuei (Director of Strategy) have joined the NIH leadership team.
Dr. Chiang also noted multiple ongoing NIH wide searches for institute directors.
Awards and Recognition
He highlighted several major accomplishments within the vision community:
- Dr. Emily Chew, NEI Distinguished Investigator, received the 2026 Roger Johnson Award (University of Washington).
- Dr. King Wai Yau delivered the annual Joram Piatigorsky Basic Science Lecture and Award.
- The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences was awarded to Jean Bennett, Albert Maguire, and Katherine High for pioneering gene therapy work that enabled the first FDA approved treatment for a monogenic inherited condition.
Additionally, six NEI funded investigators were elected to the National Academy of Sciences, representing a major year of recognition for the field.
Clinical Trial of the Year – JAMA Ophthalmology
Dr. Chiang announced that JAMA Ophthalmology selected an NEI funded clinical trial as Clinical Trial of the Year within the newly launched JAMA+ Trials platform. The study—led by Dr. Jonathan Lass with NEI program oversight by Jimmy Le and Maryann Redford—demonstrated that donor corneas from individuals with diabetes perform equivalently to non diabetic corneas in DMEK surgery, thereby expanding the potential donor pool significantly.
NEI Mission and Alignment with the NIH Unified Strategy
Dr. Chiang revisited NEI’s mission to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research. He linked NEI activities to NIH Director Bhattacharya’s “Unified Funding Strategy,” highlighting priority areas such as:
- Driving innovation
- Strengthening reproducibility and rigor
- Data science and real world data
- Training and workforce development
Throughout the report, Dr. Chiang emphasized NEI’s commitment to aligning institute efforts with NIH wide priorities.
Driving Innovation - Synthetic Eye Images with FHIR Data
NEI’s Data Science Group—led by Amber Reed with contributions from Elissa, Kerry Ashby, and Michelle Rybar—launched a platform providing synthetic retinal fundus and OCT images paired with standardized FHIR formatted clinical data. This privacy preserving resource enables broad experimentation in AI model development, interoperability testing, and clinical decision support research without involving PHI. Since March, it has already seen more than 700 views and over 200 downloads.
Eye Product Assistance Center (EPAC)
Dr. Chiang revisited the Eye Product Assistance Center, a program concept previously approved by Council and now implemented. Led by Tony Gover, the EPAC provides expert contractor support to investigators developing regulated medical products for vision indications—from early proof of concept through regulatory strategy and first in human planning. Services include:
- Needs assessments
- Device design and prototyping
- CMC work
- PK/PD and toxicology
- Regulatory affairs
- Medical writing
Investigators do not need existing NIH funding to access the program.
Amblyopia Navigator – Decision Support Tool
NEI’s Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group (PEDIG), led by Stacey Pineles with study leadership from Allison Summers and NEI program direction from Don Everett, developed a web based Amblyopia Navigator. The tool distills findings from 147 PEDIG studies into practical, evidence based clinical guidance for:
- Initial prescribing decisions
- Patching/atropine initiation
- Treatment adjustment
- Interpretation of visual progress
The tool also supports clinicians without pediatric subspecialty training, addressing workforce shortages in pediatric eye care.
Glaucoma Definition Workshop
To address longstanding inconsistencies in glaucoma definitions across research, NEI launched a Glaucoma Definition Workshop. The effort—coordinated by NEI program officer Steve Henle with support from Hongman Song, Ashley Fortress, James, and others—is co led by academic experts Ben Xu, Michelle Rybar, and Sophia Wong.
Five working groups are developing consensus elements that will enable more standardized, rigorous, and translationally meaningful definitions suitable for both research and eventual clinical adoption. Dr. Pradeep Ramulu is among the group leaders.
Ocular Surface Innovation Consortium
Led by NEI program officer Dr. Houmam Araj, this consortium addresses major gaps in understanding corneal pain mechanisms. Investigators recently published a consensus roadmap highlighting priorities across:
- Human imaging and advanced modalities (e.g., in vivo confocal microscopy, fMRI)
- Retrograde labeling
- Omics technologies
- Cross‑species molecular atlases
- Animal models enabling precision therapeutics
The long‑term goal is to build integrated neuroimmune models of corneal disease and multimodal, longitudinal imaging approaches for diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
Budget Context
Dr. Chiang closed the report by noting that NIH is funded at $47B for FY 2026 through October 1, 2026. He indicated that NEI continues to manage programs in alignment with mission priorities and evolving NIH funding strategy, and that updates will be provided as necessary.
SNDX (Data Sharing) Challenge
Dr. Chiang provided an update on the $1M SNDX Challenge, designed to incentivize exemplary data sharing behaviors and shift culture toward modern, team based science. Seven Phase 1 finalists have been selected; Phase 2 judging will occur this summer.
On July 21, NEI will host an in person SNDX Innovation Event at the Natcher Auditorium (Building 45), including keynote remarks from NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. Insights from the challenge are informing an NIH wide working group on measuring and incentivizing 21st century scientific practices.
Recruiting, Inspiring, and Training the Vision Workforce
NEI partnered with Research to Prevent Blindness to host a pre ARVO Early Career Development Day for K awardees and RPB Scholars. Program officers Neeraj Agarwal and Ashley Fortress coordinated NEI’s participation.
R38 STAR Program
NEI continues investing in the R38 residency embedded research program, supporting structured research training for clinician scientists. Current awardees are located at:
- Johns Hopkins
- UCSF
- Stanford
The next competition will take place in October 2026.
An extended Council discussion focused on:
- Optimal cohort size and national demand
- Timing within residency
- Avoiding unintended “back door” residency pathways
- Supporting MD only and late emerging clinician scientist trajectories
- Post residency research integration
- Flexibility for nontraditional paths into research careers
Council members Drs. Ramulu, Perez, Grant, and Mutti provided substantial commentary, encouraging NEI to preserve selectivity while broadening access to individuals discovering scientific interest later in training or practice.
New Approach Methodologies (NAMs)
Dr. Chiang emphasized the growing importance of NAMs across NIH and FDA, spotlighting extensive activity within the vision community. He cited work on:
- IPSC derived retinal organoids
- Organs on chip
- Human corneal cell systems
- Retinal ganglion cell connectivity models
- Clinical grade IPSC production
- Digital twin development
- High throughput ocular bioassays for gene therapy optimization
He commended Drs. Kapil Bharti, Sangeeta Bhargava, and Richard Nej for organizing ARVO symposia on translational barriers and innovation in NAMs.
NIH Policy Updates
Dr. Chiang summarized several major policy changes affecting applicants and reviewers:
1. End of leniency period for new biosketch/other support formats
New forms are required as of May 7.
2. Peer Review Modifications
- Discussed application proportion reduced from 50% to roughly one third.
- Middle third applications now designated competitive but not discussed and remain eligible for funding consideration.
- Investigators are encouraged to consult program officers regarding fit and alignment with NEI and NIH priorities.
3. BESH Policy Update
Basic Experimental Studies with Humans (BESH) will no longer be classified as clinical trials, reducing administrative burden while retaining strict human subjects protections.
4. Late Submission and End of Continuous Submission for Clinical Applications
A four week late window applies to PIs serving on qualifying NIH review bodies.
5. International Collaborative Research (PF5) Mechanism
A new structure supports global research partnerships.
6. AI Related Integrity Policies
NIH limits each PI to six applications per year and clarifies that applications substantially generated by AI tools do not meet authorship criteria. Peer reviewers are prohibited from using generative AI in critiques.
Highlighted Topics
NIH continues consolidating NOFOs but uses Highlighted Topics to signal priority scientific areas while supporting investigator initiated research. NEI leads multiple highlighted topics and participates in others. Dr. Chiang encouraged investigators to consult both the NEI Strategic Plan and highlighted topics page.
Reproducibility and Rigor
Dr. Chiang discussed NIH efforts to address reproducibility challenges across biomedical research and described the Common Fund REPeaTS initiative, which will focus on replication of high value basic research studies. He encouraged the vision community to take leadership in this area.
NEI Strategic Plan (2026–2031)
NEI received over 250 RFI responses from individuals, organizations, and advocacy groups. Next steps include:
- Publishing a summary report
- Convening subject matter expert panels
- Developing a community aligned strategic framework
Dr. Chiang emphasized that NEI’s strategic plan reflects collective community priorities, and alignment will increasingly influence funding decisions.
Council Discussion and Closing Remarks
Council members raised several topics:
- Dr. Grant suggested adding a field to RPPRs recognizing researchers who share datasets upon request, noting frequent challenges obtaining published data.
- Dr. Perez encouraged expanding team science U01 style collaborative programs.
- Dr. Ramulu emphasized incentives for routine data sharing, not only high visibility “super sharers.”
- Dr. Mutti welcomed the removal of BESH studies from clinical trial administrative requirements.
Dr. Chiang thanked members for their thoughtful contributions, noting that the discussion reflects the value of maintaining an engaged, multidisciplinary Council. He then turned the meeting back to Dr. Han for adjournment.
COUNCIL OPERATING PROCEDURES
— Dr. Hyo Jung (Anna) Han, Executive Secretary, NAEC
Dr. Hyo Jung (Anna) Han provided a concise verbal overview of the National Advisory Eye Council’s operating procedures, noting that although the procedures had not changed from prior years, Council is required to review and approve them annually. The complete document is available in the Electronic Council Book.
Dr. Han explained that the operating procedures function as the Council’s rule book, outlining how the National Advisory Eye Council conducts second level review of grant applications, manages appeals, advises NEI leadership, and participates in concept clearances for new research initiatives. She highlighted several key components:
- Second-Level Review: Most applications are approved via routine en bloc procedures.
- Special Reviews: Certain applications require additional Council evaluation—such as foreign applications, major clinical trials, appeals, projects with high program relevance, or proposals from investigators with substantial existing NIH support.
- Council Actions: During closed sessions, Council may approve, defer, request re review, or reject applications.
- Appeals: Investigators may appeal only under limited circumstances; disagreement with scientific judgment alone is not grounds for appeal.
- Expedited Review and Early Concurrence: These processes allow NEI to move forward quickly on time sensitive applications or straightforward funding decisions prior to the next scheduled Council meeting.
- Concept Clearance: Any major new NEI funding initiative must undergo Council review and input in a public session.
- Delegated Authorities: NEI staff may carry out routine administrative grant actions—such as change of institution or change of PI—without returning to Council.
With no questions raised, Dr. Han requested a motion to approve the operating procedures.
Dr. Victor Perez offered the motion, and Dr. Maria Grant seconded. Council voted unanimously in favor, and the motion passed.
CLOSING DISCUSSION AND ADJOURNMENT
Dr. Han noted that approximately four minutes remained and invited Dr. Chiang to offer closing comments. Dr. Chiang thanked Dr. Han for condensing her presentation to allow additional time for Council dialogue earlier in the session. He asked Council members for any final remarks.
Dr. Maria Grant expressed appreciation for the NEI team’s work and for Dr. Chiang’s presentation, adding that she consistently leaves Council meetings energized and inspired as a basic scientist. Dr. Perez echoed her sentiments.
Dr. Chiang thanked all Council members for their engagement, candor, and commitment, noting his pride in the collaborative momentum across NEI and the broader vision community. He extended appreciation to Dr. Han, Nathan Brown, and the administrative and CSR teams for supporting the meeting.
With no further comments, Dr. Chiang adjourned the open session and instructed Council members to join the separate link for the closed session. Dr. Han confirmed the transition logistics, and the open meeting formally concluded.
CLOSED SESSION
This portion of the meeting was closed to the public in accordance with the determination that this session concerned matters exempt from mandatory disclosure under Sections 552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), Title 5, U.S. Code, and Section 1009(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1014). Members received a presentation on the Board of Scientific Counselors Report.
ADJOURNMENT
The 175th meeting of the National Advisory Eye Council was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. on June 5, 2026
Council Members Present:
Dr. Michael F. Chiang, Chair
Dr. Anna Han, Executive Secretary
Dr. Maria Grant
Dr. Donald Mutti
Dr. Pradeep Ramulu
Dr. Victor Perez Quinones
NIH Staff Members Present:
Dr. Kapil Bharti
Dr. David Schneeweis
CERTIFICATION
We hereby certify that, to the best of our knowledge, the foregoing minutes and attachment(s) are accurate and complete.
______________________________________
Michael F. Chiang, MD
Chair
National Advisory Eye Council
______________________________________
Hyo-Jung Han, PhD
Executive Secretary
National Advisory Eye Council