Eye on the Future Video Contest | National Eye Institute

Congratulations to our Eye on the Future contest winners!

From January 27 to May 1, 2022, the National Eye Institute (NEI) hosted an Eye on the Future video contest to hear what the next generation of scientists is up to. NEI received over 40 submissions from individual teens and groups explaining their favorite science experiments, discussing impactful scientific discoveries, and showcasing live science demonstrations.

NEI is excited to announce the top 3 winners below! The winners have the chance to spend a day at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) campus with NEI researchers. Get to know these future scientists and how they’re making an impact in the world of science. And be sure to check back soon as we’ll be posting the winning videos here!

First-place winner: Meenakshi Ambati

Meenakshi Ambati is a high school senior with an eye on the future of macular degeneration treatment! Her award-winning video shares an association between atrophic macular degeneration and the medicine fluoxetine, also known as Prozac.

Skip video

Switch to video with audio description

Second-place winner: Ethan Dunn

Ethan Dunn is a high school junior with a focus on cataract prevention! He shares his research using a fish model to test eye drops with a substance called glutathione to prevent cataracts from forming on the lens of the eye.

Skip video

Switch to video with audio description

Third-place winner: Sanjana Kumar

Sanjana Kumar is a high school sophomore with a passion for keeping people safe on the road! Sanjana’s research uses human blink patterns (or eye aspect ratios) to identify when drivers are drowsy or distracted. She hopes to turn this research into a consumer-facing vehicle device to prevent accidents.

Skip video

Switch to video with audio description