Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor and vice chair of innovation and translation in the John F. Hardesty, MD, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received the 2024 Roger H. Johnson Award. The honor recognizes a clinician or scientist who has made significant contributions to the understanding or treatment of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).
ARMD is an eye disease that causes central vision loss and affects millions of people age 60 and older. Apte, whose research focuses on molecular players involved in the disease, has shown that immune dysregulation causes a buildup of lipids underneath the retina, which is a characteristic feature of the disease that eventually leads to the death of retinal neurons.
