UPMC and Pitt Faculty Present at ARVO Annual Meeting, with Prestigious Honor for José-Alain Sahel, MD

UPMC Vision Institute and University of Pittsburgh Department of Ophthalmology faculty were well represented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2026 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado May 3 – 7.

UPMC and Pitt faculty shared their latest research across multiple educational tracks exploring the full scope of ophthalmology, with more than 30 oral presentations and nearly 100 posters, as well as moderator and panelist roles in symposia.

Each year, a highlight of the ARVO meeting is the presentation of the Proctor Medal, which was established in 1949 to honor outstanding contributions to ophthalmology research in the basic and clinical sciences. José-Alain Sahel, MD, distinguished professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the UPMC Vision Institute, received the 2026 Proctor Medal and delivered the Proctor Award Lecture at this year’s event.

More than 2,000 guests attended Dr. Sahel’s lecture, titled Shooting in the Dark: A Translation Odyssey. In his address, Dr. Sahel outlined various challenges in protecting and restoring functional vision in people with retinal degeneration and his team’s exploration of gene-independent solutions, like optogenetics and retinal implants, to improve outcomes.