Duke Eye Center faculty and trainees shared their expertise and research at the 2026 American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS)Annual Scientific Meeting, held July 16–18. The meeting featured presentations, panel discussions, and national recognition for several members of the Duke retina team.
Among the highlights, three Duke faculty members and trainees received prestigious ASRS awards:
- Glenn Jaffe, MD, was honored with the Retina Research Foundation's Gertrude D. Pyron Award, one of the field's premier recognitions for vision scientists whose work has advanced understanding of vitreoretinal disease. As part of the award presentation at ASRS, he delivered a lecture titled Deep Learning Algorithm to Quantify Gyrate Atrophy Lesions. The Pyron Award was established by the Retina Research Foundation to recognize outstanding contributions to retina research and vision science.
- Lejla Vajzovic, MD, received the Women in Retina (WinR) Champion Award, recognizing her contributions to advancing and supporting women in the field of retina.
- Angela Li, MD, received the Gilbert Grand ASRS Fellowship Award, a national honor recognizing excellence among retina fellows.
Duke faculty and trainees also played prominent roles throughout the meeting, presenting research and moderating sessions focused on retinal disease, genetics, imaging, artificial intelligence, and emerging therapies. Their participation highlighted Duke Eye Center's continued contributions to advances in retina research and clinical care.
-
Dr. Lejla Vajzovic being presented with the Women in Retina WinR Champion Award. -
Vitreoretinal fellow Dr. Angela Li being presented wth Gilbert Grand ASRS Fellowship Award. -
Dr. Ramiro Maldonado posing with colleagues during the meeting. -
Vitreoretinal surgery fellow Dr. Linus Shen presenting on, "Relationship of Three Atrophy Growth Rate Metrics with Lesion Shape Factors in Stargardt Disease: Implications for Clinical Trial Design Automated Quantific" -
Dr. Sharon Fekrat posing with medical students. -
Medical student John Hsu with poster, "Retinal vascularity index in Parkinson’s disease vs controls." -
Medical student Michael Zhu with poster "Retinal layer changes in Parkinson’s disease." -
Medical student Rachel D'Cunha with poster, "Retinal vascularity index in Alzheimer’s disease." -
Medical student Alex Choi with poster, "APOE34 modifies associations between plasma Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers and retinal imaging metrics in cognitively normal adults." -
Dr. Majda Hadziahmetovic received an honorable mention for her photo, "Shooting Stars." -
Dr. Lejla Vajzovic posing with colleagues.