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SAN FRANCISCO, CA and NEW YORK, NY, September 16, 2026 – Joel S. Schuman, MD, FACS, has been selected as the recipient of the 2027 RPB David F. Weeks Award for Outstanding Vision Research (Weeks Award).
The Weeks Award, funded through the generosity of Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), an anonymous donor, and the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO), annually recognizes and celebrates an excellent vision researcher who has made an impact on the field and, by extension, on patients’ lives. Beginning with the 2027 award, RPB has increased its funding for the Weeks Award from $50,000 to $70,000, further strengthening its support for outstanding vision research. The award carries the name of David F. Weeks, former President and Chairman of RPB, in honor of his contributions to the field of vision research. The award is administered by AUPO, which oversees a Weeks Award Selection Committee.
Dr. Schuman is the Kenneth L. Roper Endowed Chair and Vice Chair for Research Innovation at the Vicki and Jack Farber Vision Research Center, Wills Eye Hospital; Co-Director of the Glaucoma Service at Wills Eye Hospital; Professor of Ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital and Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. He will receive his award and deliver a presentation during the AUPO 2027 Annual Meeting in Indian Wells, California.
An internationally recognized clinician-scientist and leader in glaucoma and ophthalmic imaging, Dr. Schuman is best known for his pioneering role as an inventor of optical coherence tomography (OCT). OCT has revolutionized ophthalmic care, providing noninvasive, quantitative assessment of ocular structures and becoming a gold-standard clinical tool in the diagnosis and treatment of major blinding diseases, including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy. Dr. Schuman and his colleagues were also the first to identify a molecular marker for human glaucoma, published in Nature Medicine in 2001. Dr. Schuman has continued to advance the field through research in glaucoma diagnostics and biomarkers, ophthalmic imaging, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Julia A. Haller, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Wills Eye Hospital, wrote in support of Dr. Schuman’s nomination, “Dr. Schuman’s career is a testament to visionary leadership, innovative research, and tireless dedication to advancing our understanding of glaucoma pathogenesis and the development of novel diagnostic approaches.” She added that his co-invention of OCT “has fundamentally changed the practice of ophthalmology and has directly benefited millions of patients worldwide.”
Dr. Schuman has received continuous National Eye Institute research funding as a principal investigator since 1995 and has authored more than 450 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles. His work has received international recognition through honors including the Champalimaud Vision Award, the ARVO Translational Research Award, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Lifetime Achievement Award, the Alcon Research Award, the BrightFocus Scientific Impact Award, and Eye Foundation of America Robert Murphy Visionary Award, and the 2026 Harvey Thorpe Scroll.
Jay S. Duker, MD, President and CEO of EyePoint, Inc., and Adjunct Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, wrote, “I have worked with and collaborated with Dr. Schuman for over 30 years and I can say without a doubt he is a generational talent in glaucoma research.” Noting that Dr. Schuman was among the initial researchers in OCT in the early 1990s, Dr. Duker added, “What is really impressive is that over the subsequent 30+ years Joel has continued to be at the forefront of OCT research.”
“I’ve had the honor and pleasure of working with Dr. Schuman for many years. He currently serves on the RPB Scientific Advisory Panel, which reviews RPB grant applications. In that role, I have been able to witness firsthand Joel’s substantial scientific expertise, his dedication to the field, and his generosity of spirit in advancing the work of others. I am thrilled to congratulate Dr. Joel Schuman on this well-deserved honor,” said Brian F. Hofland, PhD, President of Research to Prevent Blindness. “I am also especially grateful to our anonymous donor for enabling us to substantially increase the amount of this award for this and future years; with this increase, we will bring additional attention to, and honor, the worthy accomplishments of groundbreaking vision scientists like Dr. Schuman and future Weeks’ awardees.”
For more information on the RPB David F. Weeks Award for Outstanding Vision Research, visit the AUPO website.
About Research to Prevent Blindness
Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB) is the leading nonprofit organization supporting eye research directed at the prevention, treatment or eradication of all diseases that damage and destroy sight. As part of this purview, RPB also supports efforts to grow and sustain a robust and diverse vision research community. Since it was founded in 1960 by Dr. Jules Stein, RPB has awarded more than $440 million in research grants to the most talented vision scientists at the nation’s leading medical schools. As a result, RPB has been associated with nearly every major breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of vision loss in the past 66 years. Learn more at www.rpbusa.org.
About Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology
The Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) was founded in 1966 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to research and education. AUPO is the voice of academic ophthalmology through the promotion of medical education, research, and patient care in ophthalmology, and accomplished by providing a forum for discussion of mutual issues facing departments/divisions of ophthalmology in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit aupo.org.
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