Lighthouse Guild awarded its 2015 Bressler Prize to Krzysztof Palczewski, the John H. Hord Professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology. Lighthouse Guild, a nonprofit vision and health care organization, gives the award to a researcher who has made remarkable contributions to vision care disciplines.
Palczewski’s work includes advancements in understanding hereditary blindness and developments in slowing retinal degeneration in adults. It could lead to new therapies for degenerative eye diseases.
“I am so delighted to be the recipient of this wonderful honor,” Palczewski said. “The Bressler Prize is greatly respected in our field and I’m grateful to Lighthouse Guild to be chosen as the 2015 recipient.”
Since 2003, the Bressler Prize has annually recognized a mid-career vision clinician or scientist whose leadership, research and service have led to important advancements in the understanding of vision loss, treatment of eye disease, or the rehabilitation of people with vision loss.
As the 2015 Bressler Prize winner, Palczewski will receive $50,000, thanks to the generosity of the late Alfred W. Bressler. He also will host Lighthouse Guild’s Annual Symposium in New York City, where he will be joined by other top researchers who will present their latest findings in the field.