Dr Ambati wins 2010 ARVO award

Dr Jayakrishna Ambati, professor and vice chairman of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has been chosen to receive the 2010 Cogan Award from The Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology (ARVO).

Specifically, the Cogan Award is to be presented to Ambati for exceptional contributions in the understanding of the role of innate immune system in the mechanisms and treatment of age-related macular degeneration.

"I am delighted and honored to be chosen for this prestigious award," Ambati said. "This award recognizes the important contributions that the talented young scientists in my research group have made in advancing the understanding of how macular degeneration develops and how it can be better diagnosed and treated. While such recognition from my peers is tremendously gratifying, my professional mission is to hasten the day when blindness due to macular degeneration becomes a faded memory."

Ambati's lab has made numerous foundational contributions in macular degeneration research with numerous papers published in Nature, Nature Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Ambati is the Dr E. Vernon Smith & Eloise C. Smith Endowed Chair in Macular Degeneration.

Dr Jay A. Perman, dean of the UK College of Medicine and vice president for clinical affairs, said: "Dr Ambati continues to bring great recognition and pride to UK and our College of Medicine. While his research will one day lead to rewards in and of itself by eradicating blindness from macular degeneration, it is wonderful for his tremendous hard work and dedication to be so highly recognized by his colleagues."

Since 1988, ARVO has annually recognized one individual younger than 40 years of age who has made important and worthwhile contributions to research in ophthalmology or visual science that are directly related to disorders of the human eye or visual system, and who shows substantial promise for the future.

Dr Ambati recently led a team of researchers which discovered a new biological marker for AMD. To read more please click here.