Visiting Scholar Award Recipients
2026 Winners
Dana K. Merriman
Professor Emeritus & Squirrel Colony Director
Biology, School of STEM & UW-Oshkosh
Visiting Scholar hosted: Sangeetha Kandoi
Sangeetha Kandoi
Postdoctoral Fellow (Bright Focus Foundation – Macular Degeneration & Knights Templar Eye Foundation Fellow)
Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University
Host: Dana Merriman
Michael Gleicher
Professor
Computer Sciences
Visiting Scholar hosted: Remco Chang
Remco Chang
Professor
Computer Science, Tufts University
Host: Michael Gleicher
T. Michael Nork
Professor
Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Visiting Scholar hosted: Isabelle Audo
Isabelle Audo
Professor
Genetics, Institut de la Vision
Host: T. Michael Nork
Miranda Scalabrino & Raunak Sinha
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences; Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin (Scalabrino)
&
Associate Professor, David and Nancy Walsh Family Professor in Vision Research
Neuroscience (Sinha)
Visiting Scholar hosted: Greg Field
Greg Field
Associate Professor
Ophthalmology, UCLA
Hosts: Miranda Scalabrino & Raunak Sinha
Natascha Merten
Assistant Professor
Population Health Sciences and Medicine
Visiting Scholar hosted: Willa Brenowitz, PhD, MPH
Willa Brenowitz, PhD, MPH
Investigator, Epidemiologist
Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research
Host: Natascha Merten, PhD, MS
Leandro Teixeira & Richard Dubielzig
COPLOW Director (Teixeira) & Prof. Emeritus of Pathobiological Sciences (Dubielzig)
Visiting Scholar hosted: Kelsey Jenkins
Kelsey Jenkins
PhD Candidate
Earth and Planetary Sciences, Yale University
Hosts: Leandro Teixeira, DVM and Richard Dubielzig, DVM, DACVP, DACVO
Robert F. Cooper
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences,
Marquette University & Medical College of Wisconsin
Visiting Scholar hosted: Ramkumar Sabesan
Ramkumar Sabesan
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology, University of Washington
Host: Robert F. Cooper
Gillian McLellan
Professor
Surgical Sciences / Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Visiting Scholar hosted: Rebecca Sappington
Rebecca Sappington
Associate Professor
Biochemistry/Ophthalmology, Wake Forest University
Host: Gillian McLellan
Andrea Mason, Kristin Pickett, Kevin Ponto
Professor, Assistant Professor, & Associate Professor (respectively)
Kinesiology (Mason, Pickett) & Design Studies (Ponto)
Visiting Scholar hosted: Jan Hondzinski
Jan Hondzinski
Professor
Kinesiology, Louisiana State University
Hosts: Andrea Mason, Kristin Pickett, Kevin Ponto
No awards given this year due to pandemic
No awards given this year due to pandemic
Heather Kirkorian
Associate Professor
Human Development and Family Studies
Visiting Scholar hosted: John Franchak
John Franchak
Assistant Professor
Psychology, UC-Riverside
Host: Heather Kirkorian
Karen Schloss
Associate Professor
Psychology
Visiting Scholar hosted: Kevin Lande
Kevin Lande
Assistant Professor
Philosophy, Centre for Vision Research, York University
Host: Karen Schloss
Joseph Carroll
Professor
Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Marquette Univ & MCW
Visiting Scholar hosted: Deepak Lamba
Deepak Lamba
Associate Professor
Ophthalmology / Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine & Stem Cell Research, UCSF
Host: Joseph Carroll
Paul Kaufman
Professor
Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Visiting Scholar hosted: Ernst Tamm
Ernst Tamm
Professor
Institute of Human Anatomy & Embryology, University of Regensburg
Host: Paul Kaufman
Ari Rosenberg
Associate Professor
Neuroscience
Visiting Scholar hosted: Curtis Baker
Curtis Baker
Graduate Student
Neuroscience
Host: Ari Rosenberg
Raunak Sinha
Assistant Professor
Neuroscience
Visiting Scholar hosted: Max Turner
Max Turner
Postdoctoral Researcher
Neurobiology, Stanford University
Host: Raunak Sinha
Janis T Eells & Akihiro Ikeda
Professors
Biomedical Sciences, UW-Milwaukee (Eells) & Medical Genetics, UW–Madison (Ikeda)
Visiting Scholar hosted: Riccardo Natoli
Riccardo Natoli
Associate Professor
Neuroscience, Australian National Univ.
Hosts: Janis T Eells & Aki Ikeda
Gillian McLellan
Professor
Surgical Sciences / Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
Visiting Scholar hosted: Alex Huang
Alex Huang
Assistant Professor
Ophthalmology, Doheny Eye Institute, UCLA
Host: Gillian McLellan
Vanessa Simmering
Assistant Professor
Psychology
Visiting Scholar hosted: Shannon Ross-Sheehy
Shannon Ross-Sheehy
Assistant Professor
Psychology, Univ of Tennessee-Knoxville
Host: Vanessa Simmering