ASRS Presidents’ Young Investigator Award
2023 Presidents' Young Investigator Award
The Foundation has selected Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, as the winner of the 10th annual ASRS Presidents’ Young Investigator Award. Dr. Lee is an associate professor and vitreoretinal surgeon at the University of Washington Department of Ophthalmology, where he recently was awarded the C. Dan and Irene Hunter Endowed Professorship.
The ASRS Presidents’ Young Investigator Award is given by the Foundation to honor past presidents of our Society by nurturing the development of next-generation retina leaders. It recognizes an ASRS member age 45 or younger who has made substantial contributions to the field of retina that will potentially improve our patients’ lives. The winner receives a $15,000 honorarium. We are grateful for support of this award through a grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Dr. Lee chairs the American Academy of Ophthalmology Information Technology Steering Committee. He currently serves as an associate editor for both Translational Vision Science & Technology and Ophthalmology Science, and on the editorial board of the American Journal of Ophthalmology and Nature Scientific Reports. Dr. Lee has published over 175 peer-reviewed manuscripts and is known as a leader in the field of artificial intelligence and ophthalmology.
His research is focused on the translation of novel computation techniques in machine learning to uncover new disease associations and mechanisms from routine clinical data including electronic health records and imaging. Dr. Lee completed his medical training at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University.
About the Young Investigator Award
The ASRS Presidents’ Young Investigator Award is given by the Foundation to honor past presidents of our Society by nurturing the development of next-generation retina leaders. The winner receives a $15,000 honorarium. We are grateful for support of this award through a grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
The Young Investigator Award recognizes an ASRS member age 50 or younger who has made substantial contributions to the field of retina that will potentially improve the lives of our patients.
Eligibility Criteria
- 50 years of age or younger at the time the paper is published
- Member of the ASRS
- Must be first or senior author on the paper submitted for consideration
- Paper must be original and published in print or e-published in a peer-reviewed journal within the last 12 months (January 1, 2023–December 31, 2023).
- Individuals may nominate themselves or others may nominate them once the paper has been published.
- To be considered, nominees must submit the published paper, including all illustrations and online links, acknowledgement from senior author (if first author is applicant) or first author (if senior author is applicant) that candidate is in fact the primary investigator, a CV, and a paragraph summarizing the significance of their work.
Award Details
The Young Investigator Award will be given at the ASRS Annual Meeting, and the recipient will receive a $15,000 honorarium. Application materials will be submitted online to ASRS through the nomination form linked below. The deadline for 2024 Young Investigator Award nominations is January 5, 2024.
Past Recipients
2014 Rajendra Apte, MD, PhD
2015 Hendrik PN Scholle, MD, MA
2016 Jayakrishna Ambati, MD
2017 SriniVas R. Sada, MD,
2018 Rishi P. Singh, MD, FASRS
2019 Sophie J. Bakri, MD, FASRS
2020 Charles C. Wykoff, MD, PhD, FASRS
2021 Arshad M. Khanani, MD, MA, FASRS
2022 Justis P. Ehlers, MD, FASRS
2023 Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI