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More than 20 trainee and faculty presentations highlighting breakthroughs in myopia, glaucoma, retinal degeneration, ocular imaging, and vision preservation were featured during the 2026 UCSF Ophthalmology Research Day held on April 23 at the Wayne and Gladys Valley Center for Vision.
Hosted in the William and Ruth Hoffman Auditorium, the annual event brought together researchers, clinician-scientists, trainees, faculty, and supporters from across the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology and the Francis I. Proctor Foundation for a full day dedicated to advancing vision science and collaborative discovery.
The program opened with remarks from Jacque Duncan, MD, Chair of the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology, and featured presentations spanning basic science, translational research, clinical innovation, and emerging technologies designed to preserve and restore sight.
Research Day highlighted the breadth of work taking place across UCSF vision research programs. Faculty presentations included:
Trainee investigators from laboratories across UCSF Ophthalmology presented a wide range of innovative projects, including new approaches to managing myopia, understanding retinal ganglion cell survival, studying macular degeneration, improving glaucoma monitoring, and advancing high-throughput retinal circuit mapping. Presenters included Kiran Gangappa (Nair Lab), Annika Balraj and Paige Leary (Dunn Lab), Valencia Fernandes and Ricardo I. Espinosa Lima (Lakkaraju Lab), Corinne Shiu, Anbu Muniyandi, Albert Xu, and Yuqi Shao (Ou Lab), Shreya Menon (Sun Lab), Jenny Lu and Bryce Bajar (Han Lab), Fei Wang (Duan Lab), Madelynn Mackenzie, Alythia Vo, and Farah Shareef (Stewart Lab), Joshua Radlow (Pasricha Lab), Eden Tefera (Rasool Lab), Ronald Mezile (Greig Lab), Blake Archer (Keenan Lab), and Henry Phan (Nachury Lab).
The afternoon keynote address, “Understanding and preserving vision,” was delivered by Daniel Kerschensteiner, MD, Bernard Becker Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Vice Chair for Research in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Co-Director of the Neuroscience PhD Program at Washington University School of Medicine, and introduced by Felice Dunn, PhD.
The event also featured the David and Joyce Copenhagen Award presentation, introduced by David Copenhagen, PhD. The 2026 award lecture was presented by Albert Xu of the Ou Lab for his work evaluating increment and decrement stimulus responses in glaucoma patients using virtual reality-based perimetry.
A fast-paced lightning round session showcased additional emerging research from trainees across multiple laboratories, including studies focused on geographic atrophy, glaucoma imaging, retinal development, antibody drug conjugate ocular toxicity, inherited glaucoma models, and school-based vision screening in the Navajo Nation.
The day concluded with an evening social and award announcements celebrating the collaborative spirit and scientific excellence that continue to drive innovation at UCSF Ophthalmology and the Francis I. Proctor Foundation.
Research Day 2026 was made possible through support from the All May See Foundation and the Transamerica Visiting Professorship in Vision Science. The research presented was supported, in part, by the Core Grant for Vision Research (EY037668), the All May See Foundation, and an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness.
Photos from the program: