Llura Liggett Gund Award Laureates

A distinguished group of scientists and clinicians has been recognized with this honor for their lasting contributions to the field

2026	Eric Pierce, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts Eye and Ear / Harvard Medical School Recognized for contributions to identifying genes associated with inherited retinal diseases and advancing gene-based therapeutic strategies.
2020	Jean Bennett, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
2016	Richard Weleber, MD, PhD, Oregon Health Science University For career achievement in the field of retinal-disease therapies
2015	José-Alain Sahel, MD, PhD, Institut de la Vision For his work on vision-saving treatments and cures.
2013	William Hauswirth, PhD, University of Florida He received the award for using non-harmful adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to transport healthy DNA into retinal cells at the back of the eye, showing that gene therapy could restore vision in animal models, including Briard dogs. His team’s approach was then used in human clinical trials where children and young adults virtually blind from Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) have had significant vision restored.
2012	Edwin Stone, MD, PhD, University of Iowa Dr. Stone’s lab has been a leader in discovering and characterizing genes that cause retinal degenerations such as retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, and Stargardt disease, among other conditions. He and his colleagues are taking the new genetic information, creating models of disease, and then working to develop potential treatments for evaluation in clinical trials. This effort includes successfully converting a patient’s skin cells to stem cells, and then to retinal precursor cells to evaluate possible therapies.
2011	Robert Eugene Anderson, PhD, Oklahoma Health Sciences University He and his colleagues discovered years ago that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oils are important for the most efficient and fastest development of the visual system, leading to their inclusion in infant formulas today.
2009	Dean Bok, MD, UCLA Received the award for his work defining the link between vitamin A and vision. His research led the way in establishing the gene defect in the vitamin A metabolic cycle that ultimately directed researchers toward successful gene therapy clinical trials for Leber congenital amaurosis, a severe, early onset form of retinitis pigmentosa.
2007	Matthew LaVail, PhD, University of California, San Francisco Received the award for his leadership role in understanding, identifying, and developing neuroprotective agents that slow or reverse vision loss. LaVail’s research has provided targets for the identification of dozens of potential treatments.
2001	John Dowling, PhD, Harvard University Received the award for his groundbreaking work in understanding the functional organization of the retina, including synaptic organization, electrical responses of retinal neurons, and the exchange of retinoids in the visual cycle. Dowling's discoveries have been essential to the work of virtually every retinal researcher over the last several decades.
2000	Eliot Berson, MD, Berman-Gund Laboratory, MEEI Received the award for his discovery that vitamin A palmitate slows the rate of vision loss in people with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). As the only treatment for RP, vitamin A can potentially provide many additional years of useful vision.
1998	Alan Laties, MD, University of Pennsylvania Received the award in recognition of his career as a world-renowned neuro-ophthalmologist, neuro-ophthalmologic investigator, and educator in retinal science.