Vanderbilt Eye Institute – Faculty Honors, Awards & Grants 2023-2024

Featured in the Vanderbilt Eye Institute Impact Report 2024. Peruse the rest of the Impact Report here.

The following is a list of recent honors and awards received by Vanderbilt Eye Institute faculty.

Sapna Gangaputra, M.D., M.P.H. 

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Molecular characterization of the ocular microbiome in healthy adults

• Recipient of the Distinguished alumni award from residency program University of Wisconsin-Madison 

Paul Sternberg, Jr., M.D.

• Appointed Executive Vice President and COO for the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO)

• Presented the Emory University Henry Edelhauser Lecture in Translational Vision

Rachel Kuchtey, M.D., Ph.D.

• Selected as site principal investigator for the National Eye Institute sponsored COAST clinical trial

• Served as Vice Chair of the American Glaucoma Society Program Committee 

• Elected to the American Ophthalmological Society (AOS) 

• Awarded the Glaucoma Research Foundation Shaffer Price

Edward Chaum, M.D., Ph.D. 

• Presented the University of Tennessee Health Science Center 25th William N. Williford Distinguished Visiting Professor Lectur

• Served as Retina Section Chair of the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) 

Avni Finn, M.D., M.B.A. 

• Awarded a grant from the Macula Society / International Retinal Research Foundation for Developing a Deep Learning Model for the Automated Analysis of Macular Holes

• Appointed Early Career Section Co-Chair American Society of Retina Specialists 

• Served as Vit-Buckle Society Program Chair 

• Served as Deputy Executive Editor of OSLI Retina 

 Dolly Ann Padovani-Claudio, M.D., Ph.D.

• Selected to participate in Council of Vision Editors Fellowship Program sponsored by the National Eye Institute

 Karen Joos, M.D., Ph.D. 

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Ocular Therapeutic Delivery through Real-time Endoscopic B-scan OCT-guided Tools and Robotic Assistance

• Served as sub-contract principal investigator for the National Eye Institute funded study Intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography for Ophthalmic Surgical Guidance

• Was co-recipient of a US patent entitled Continuum Robots with Multi-scale Motion through Equilibrium Modulation

• Interviewed by Vance Durbin on WYPL-FM, Memphis Public Libraries’ Broadcast Radio Station, discussing  “Global Biobank and Glaucoma Genetics”

 Tonia Rex, Ph.D.

• Presented the University of Louisville Stephenson Visiting Lecture 

• Funded by the Department of Defense for ARL – DAP Operational Optimization Resolution (DOOR) and Diagnosis of mild TBI spectrum via assessment battery and machine learning 

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Mitochondria: controllers of trauma-induced secondary neurodegeneration onset

 Sean Donahue, M.D., Ph.D.

• Presented the University of Pittsburgh Susruta Lecture 

• Presented the St. Louis University Naheed Shah Endowed Lecture 

• Served as President of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus

• Participated in the Office of the Surgeon-in-Chief (OSIC) Strategy Retreat for Surgical Program Marketing & Development 

 Edward Levine, Ph.D.

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Vsx2 dependent regulation of retinal progenitor cell properties

• Funded by the Vanderbilt Trans-Institutional Programs (TIPs) for Novel Ideas in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, in cooperation with the Department of Mechanical Engineering

• Presented an invited lecture at the Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, University of California, Davis

 David Calkins, Ph.D. 

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Mechanisms of adaptive remodeling and their therapeutic potential in glaucoma

 Sabine Fuhrmann, Ph.D.

• Funded by the National Eye Institute for Regulation of eye morphogenesis

• Presented an invited lecture at the Gordon Research Conference, Tuscany Il Ciocco, Italy

• Presented an invited lecture at the Stanford Department of Ophthalmology

Behin Barahimi, M.D.

• Served as President of the Tennessee Society of Eye Surgeons 

 Rachel Sobel, M.D.

• Served as Program Chair for the North American Society of Academic Orbital Surgeons 

• Elected to the Faculty Senate at Vanderbilt University Medical Center 

 Sujoy Bhattacharya, Ph.D., M.B.A.

• Recognzed as an Emerging Vision Scientist by the National Alliance of Eye and Vision Research

• Presented Mitochondrial Bioenergetics in a Novel Model of RPE Degeneration as part of an ARVO Mini-symposium on Mitochondrial Function in Healthy and Diseased Retina

• Served as an early-career reviewer for the National Eye Institute in the Biology and Development of the Eye Study Section 

 Stephanie Jian, O.D., F.A.A.O.

• Recognized in Berkeley Optometry’s 40 Under 40