Kass, Gordon receive Hellen Keller Prize for Vision Research
Scientists recognized for glaucoma research
Washington University School of MedicineMichael A. Kass, MD, (left) and Mae O. Gordon, PhD, are the recipients of the 2022 Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research for their work with the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study.
Michael A. Kass, MD, and Mae O. Gordon, PhD, are the recipients of the 2022 Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research. The annual prize, presented by the BrightFocus Foundation and the Helen Keller Foundation for Research and Education, honors scientific discovery and excellence. Kass and Gordon, both professors in the John F. Hardesty, MD, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, were selected for their landmark work in glaucoma research.
The two designed and managed the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study, a clinical trial that lasted more than 20 years and greatly increased the understanding of the natural progression of glaucoma and how the condition can be predicted and prevented.
“We never dreamed that our research, which started with a simple question, would change clinical management of ocular hypertension worldwide,” Gordon said. “This prize honors every study participant, technician and clinician who contributed to this research over the last two decades.”
Added Kass, the Bernard Becker Professor of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, “It is particularly meaningful to me that my mentor, Dr. Bernard Becker, was the second recipient of this prize back in 1995.”
The awards were presented May 3 in Denver during the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
