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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

  • December 10, 2026 (3:00-4:30 PM ET)
  • David Gamm, M.D., Ph.D., "Developing fit-for-purpose stem cell model systems to advance retinal therapeutics"
  • Lipsett Amphitheater, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD
     

David M. Gamm, M.D., Ph.D., is the Emmett A. Humble Distinguished Director of the McPherson Eye Research Institute, the Sandra Lemke Trout Chair in Eye Research, and a Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also a member of the Waisman Center Stem Cell Research Program, the UW Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. His research focuses on advancing human pluripotent stem cell technology for the purpose of generating functional retinal cells and 3D organoids (for which he holds the first issued patent) for use in cell replacement therapies and retinal disease modeling for blinding disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa and age–related macular degeneration. In 2016, he co-founded Opsis Therapeutics, which partnered in 2023 with BlueRock Therapeutics to initiate the world’s first clinical trial for photoreceptor replacement using purified and cryopreserved iPS cell-derived photoreceptor precursor cells. In his clinical and surgical practice, Dr. Gamm also diagnoses and manages a broad range of pediatric eye and vision disorders.

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.

 

David M. Gamm, M.D., Ph.D

David M. Gamm, M.D., Ph.D.

Past Lectures

Last updated: November 4, 2026

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