Retina Research Foundation and Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) are pleased to announce the new Paul Kayser/RRF Global Award. The award will recognize outstanding achievement in visual science with preference given in the specialized field of research on the retina and vitreous.

The purpose of the award is to identify and recognize a vision science professional whose work has made a significant new contribution to knowledge about improving vision and prevention of blindness. RRF established this award in memory of Paul Kayser and to honor his interest in international solutions to the prevention of blindness.

One award will be given every two years in the amount of $50,000 in conjunction with the biennial Pan-American Congresses.

2023 Paul Kayser / RRF Global Award

Rajeev Muni, MD, MSc

The University of Toronto, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Toronto, Canada

Title: Bacillary Layer Detachment and Associated Abnormalities in Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

Presented at the XXXV Pan-American Congress on March 18, 2023 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Dr. Rajeev Muni is a staff vitreoretinal surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children and the Kensington Eye Institute in Toronto, Canada and is the Vice-Chair of Clinical Research in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto.

Dr. Muni leads an active clinical research program and has a keen interest in randomized clinical trials, particularly in vitreoretinal surgical conditions. Dr Muni and his team conducted the PIVOT randomized trial comparing pneumatic retinopexy versus pars plana vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair which demonstrated superior functional outcomes for patients undergoing pneumatic retinopexy. Dr. Muni has also been instrumental in novel research assessing the integrity of retinal reattachment with various surgical approaches using multimodal imaging and has published extensively on this topic in the highest impact journals in the field. Specifically, Dr. Muni and his team have demonstrated for the first time that photoreceptor recovery can vary with surgical technique. He has also demonstrated that the risk of unwanted anatomic outcomes such as retinal displacement and outer retinal folds vary with surgical technique, with these outcomes being more common following vitrectomy compared to pneumatic retinopexy. Dr. Muni and his team have also characterized the specific sequence of morphological changes that occur in humans in vivo with retinal detachment and retinal reattachment using the latest multimodal imaging. Most recently, Dr. Muni and his team have greatly expanded on our understanding of the pathophysiology of outer retinal corrugations and secondary macular hole in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. His group has been the first to describe bacillary layer detachment (BALAD) and associated abnormalities in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Dr. Muni has over 115 peer-reviewed publications.

2019 Paul Kayser / RRF Global Award

Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, MD

John A. Moran Eye Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Title: Toward a Safe and Effective Treatment for Retinopathy of Prematurity

Presented at the XXXIV Pan-American Congress on May 25, 2019 in Cancun, Mexico.

2017 Paul Kayser/RRF Global Award

Jennifer Kang-Mieler, PhD

Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL

Title:  A novel microsphere-hydrogel ocular drug delivery system for anti-vascular endothelial growth factors (anti-VEGFs)

Presented at the 33rd Pan-American Congress on August 9, 2017 in Lima, Peru.