Wilmer in Focus Newsletter | May 2026
News from our full member Wilmer Eye Institute Johns Hopkins Medicine
Dear friends and colleagues,
In this issue, we celebrate important advances in our ability to help those who have experienced vision loss. Whether providing care that helps those with vision loss live their best lives, or working to restore vision by regenerating cells lost to disease, it is clear that we are making progress and that collaboration — between institutions, departments, divisions, and patients and their doctors — is a key factor in our ability to do so. These are exciting times for vision research and for the patients who stand to benefit from it.
—Peter J. McDonnell, M.D.
Alan and Marlene Norton Director of the Wilmer Eye Institute
William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology
Features
A Bright Future for Retina Fellows
Wilmer physicians have helped William and Patricia Bright retain their vision despite the challenges of aging. The couple is expressing their gratitude by supporting a Medical and Surgical Retina Advanced Special Training fellowship.
An Old Friendship Inspires an Enduring Legacy
Close family ties were the inspiration for a gift that will support a joint appointment between two Johns Hopkins schools.
Vision Lost, Hockey Found
It had been many years since John O’Connell laced up his skates and played hockey. Ironically, it was an eye disease that ultimately led him back to the ice.
In the Spotlight
Get to Know Meng Meng Xu
Meng Meng Xu, O.D., M.P.H., joined Wilmer in January as an assistant professor of ophthalmology. An optometrist with expertise in comprehensive eye care, Xu sees patients at Wilmer’s satellite clinic in Bethesda.
Goldberg Participates in Novel Forum on the Benefits of Outdoor Recreation
Laura Goldberg, O.D., served as a panelist at the Outdoor Research Roundtable. The first-of-its-kind forum, held May 6–7 in Washington, DC, brought together outdoor recreation CEOs, healthcare and pharmaceutical leaders, experts in physical and mental health and policymakers to explore how outdoor recreation can help address many of the nation’s pressing health challenges.
“I was honored to be invited to speak on the importance of outdoor time and its impact on children’s health, specifically related to myopia prevention and eye health,” said Goldberg. “Increasing research supports that greater outdoor exposure can play an important role in reducing myopia onset and progression in children while also supporting overall physical and mental well-being.”
Roger Still, Founder and Executive Director of One Health Us, and Laura Goldberg
Research news
Translational Experiments Advance Efforts to Restore Vision
Through a series of experiments led by Thomas V. Johnson III, M.D., Ph.D., the Shelley and Allan Holt Rising Professor of Ophthalmology, Wilmer scientists have potentially overcome a major obstacle to restoring vision with neuron transplants in people with optic nerve damage.
Advancing the Science of Artificial Vision
The third successful implantation of a wireless visual prosthesis brain implant utilizing software developed in the lab of Gislin Dagnelie, M.S., Ph.D., has been reported. The Intracortical Visual Prosthesis System represents decades of research and development by a multi-institution team led by the Pritzker Institute of Biomedical Science and Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Dagnelie originally served as an advisor during system development on the basis of his experience with the Argus II retinal implant. Later, his lab developed the software protocols to stimulate the implanted electrodes — work that included development of the methods used to map where phosphenes (flashes of light caused by stimulation of the electrodes) appear in the participant’s field of view. The map is used to create images by stimulating many electrodes simultaneously. Two of Dagnelie’s former students developed most of the software for patient testing, which they are conducting at Rush University Medical Center.
Researchers Capture Effects of Geographic Atrophy
National Institutes of Health-supported research led by Malia Edwards, Ph.D., the Tom Clancy Professor of Ophthalmology, captured how blood vessels and eye tissue changed due to geographic atrophy, one of the leading causes of age-related blindness among older adults. The study findings, which were published March 10 in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, will help experts identify key physical features linked to severe geographic atrophy and determine which medications can be prescribed to manage it.
Awards and Honors
Woreta Honored with ASOT Founder Award
The American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma annual meeting was held April 24–26 in Houston. Fasika Woreta, M.D., M.P.H., the Eugene de Juan, Sr., M.D. Professor of Ophthalmic Education, received the organization’s Founder Award. In addition, rising 4th-year medical student Anshuman Agarwal presented his work on the very low rates of endophthalmitis at Wilmer following open globe injuries.
Right: Christopher J. Rapuano, President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; Fasika Woreta; James Auran, Executive Vice President of the American Society of Ophthalmic Trauma
Nathans Wins Inaugural Welch Award
Jeremy Nathans, M.D., Ph.D., professor of molecular biology and genetics, neuroscience and the Samual Theobald Professor of Ophthalmology, is the inaugural recipient of the Welch Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Nathans’ investigations into the mechanisms that allow us to see colors led him to identify the genes that code for color-vision receptors in the light-sensing cones of the retina — a breakthrough that led to the discovery that variations in these genes cause color blindness.
Upcoming Events
Grand Rounds
Join Wilmer for virtual Grand Rounds, Thursday mornings from 7:30am – 8:30am. CME credit is available for Johns Hopkins affiliates. Click here to join these upcoming sessions:
· May 21
· May 28
· June 4
· June 11
· June 18
Retina
Bodenheimer Lecture
General
Neuro-Ophthalmology
Koplowitz Lecture
Wilmer Science Seminar Series
The Wilmer Science Seminar Series presents Paloma Liton, Ph.D., professor at Duke University with joint appointments in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Pathology. Dr. Liton will present her talk titled ” Autophagy in Ocular Hypertension and Glaucoma: More than Cellular Cleanup,” May 18 at 10am. Join the Zoom meeting
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