Resident Excellence Award | ASCRS
Grants & Awards

Resident Excellence Award

About the Award

ASCRS was founded by young, enterprising ophthalmologists and the ASCRS Foundation's Resident Excellence Awards carry on and honor that tradition. The ASCRS Foundation makes ten awards to enable ophthalmology residents exhibiting exemplary performance to attend the ASCRS Annual Meeting. The categories for consideration include research, patient care, leadership and education. Recipients receive a travel grant, four nights accommodation, complimentary meeting registration and invitations to select leadership and social events. 

Resident Excellence Award Recipients
2024 Resident Excellence Recipients

Ana Roldan Vasquez, MD
Penn State Eye Center, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Abdelrahman Elhusseiny, MD, MSc.
Jones Eye Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
 
Siddharth Nath, MD, Ph.D
Ophthalmology Residency Training Program, McGill University

Cason Robbins, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University

Moon Lee, MD
Wilmer Ophthalmology Residency Program, Johns Hopkins University

Angela Gupta, MD, Ph.D
Scheie Eye Institute, University of Pennsylvania

Louisa Lu, MD
Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University

Samantha Arsenault, MD
Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine

Mahsaw Mansoor, MD
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, University of Iowa

Rami Gabriel, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University

 
2023 Resident Excellence Recipients

Tania Padilla Conde, MD
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Kentucky

Dominique Geoffrion, MD, PhD
Department of Ophthalmology, Université de Montréal

Aaron R. Kaufman, MD
Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Harvard University

Lisa R. Koenig, MD
New York Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medicine

Sri Meghana Konda, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University

Weijie Violet Lin, MD
Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University 

Raul E. Ruiz Lozano, MD
Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

James Tian, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University

Jennifer A. Tran, MD
Massachusetts Eye & Ear, Harvard University

Tu. M. Tran, MD, MSc
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota

 
2022 Resident Excellence Recipients

Sahil Aggarwal, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University

Stephen Armenti, MD, PhD
Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan

Yandong (Yanna) Bian, MD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School

Vinicius De Stefano, MD, PhD
Federal University of Sao Paulo, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Erica Darian-Smith, Mmed
Prince of Wales Hospital Ophthalmology Training Programme, University of New South Wales

Cherie Fathy, MD
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Nhon Le, MD
Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor College

Zachary Mortensen, MD
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Manuel Paez-Escamilla, MD
UPMC Eye Center, University of Pittsburgh

Xueyang (Sarah) Wang, MD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School

2021 Resident Excellence Recipients

Sila Bal, MD, MPH
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School

Liane Dallalzadeh, MD
Shiley Eye Institute, UC San Diego

Arjan Hura, MD
Department of Ophthalmology, University of Cincinnati

Tanner Ferguson, MD
Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic

Jason Kwok, MD
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto

David Ramirez, MD
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Kareem Sioufi, MD
Storm Eye Institute, Medical University of South Carolina

Alexa Thibodeau, MD
Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan

Priscilla Vu, MD
Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University 

Xinxin Zhang, MD
Duke Eye Center, Duke University 

2020 Resident Excellence Recipients

Kelley Bohm, MD
University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Eye & Ear Infirmary

Karine Bojikian, MD, PhD
University of Washington

Allison Chen, MD, MPH
UC San Diego Ophthalmology Residency Program

Giancarlo Garcia, MD
Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University

Mark Goerlitz-Jessen, MD
Duke University

Brent Kramer, MD
UNC Department of Ophthalmology

Tracy Krick, MD
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Donovan Reed, MD
San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium

Eric Weinlander, MD
University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center

Caroline Wilson, MD
University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics; Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

2019 Resident Excellence Recipients

Katia Chavez, MD
Ohio State University-Havener Eye Institute

Priyanka Chhadva, MD
University of Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary

Martin De la Pressa, MD
University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology

Austin Fox, MD
University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences

Nathan Lambert, MD
Oregon Health & Science University-Casey Eye Institute

Emily Li, MD
Yale University-Yale New Haven Hospital

Austin Nakatsuka, MD
Northwestern University

Eric Rosenberg, DO, MSE
New York Medical College

Ryan Smith, MD
Stanford University Medical Center

Nandini Venkateswaran, MD
University of Miami-Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

Angela Zhu, MD
Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute

2018 Resident Excellence Recipients

Jonathan Chou, MD
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Thomas Johnson, MD, PhD
Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute

Michele Lee, MD
Department of Ophthalmology Stanford University Medical Center

Shawn Lin, MD, MBA
UCLA Stein Eye Institute

Katy Liu, MD, PhD
Duke Eye Center

James Lockwood, MD
Emory University

Jeffrey Ma, MD
Northwestern University

Jacob Rullo, MD, PhD
Queen’s University Ophthalmology

Nakul Shekhawat, MD, MPH
University of Michigan-Kellogg Eye Center

Swarup Swaminathan, MD
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

2017 Resident Excellence Recipients

Tarek Alasil, MD
Yale University

Igor Bussel, MD
University of Pittsburg Medical Center

Daniel Gologorsky, MD
Bascom Palmer Eye Institute

Roman Krivochenister, MD
University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics

Priya Mathews, MD
Columbia University Medical Center

Natasha Nayak, MD
Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Grace Paley, MD
Washington University School of Medicine

Ramunas Rolius, MD
Penn State Hershey Eye Center

Sally Shing Yee Ong, MD
Duke Eye Center

Edmund Tsui, MD
New York University School of Medicine

David Ramirez, MD                                                2021 Resident Excellence Award Recipient

As a 2021 Foundation awardee of the Resident Excellence Award, this meeting has rejuvenated me. Residency training can be very taxing (for everyone), and it can be hard to imagine what our lives after training will look like. The Annual Meeting is a great place to get that glimpse. I listened to sessions about Volunteer Eye Surgeons, and imagined the future work I'd like to be involved in. I heard talks on the evolution of premium IOLs and marveled at the technology being developed. I saw how much effort had been poured into the many papers, posters and talks given. Knowing how much knowledge was at the tips of my fingers, and being surrounded by other interested (and interesting!) people, helped me remember my long-term goals as a young Ophthalmologist. Attending the Annual Meeting as a Foundation awardee gave me great perspective on just how many opportunities are available after training to explore my interests, and made me very excited for my future. For those interested in the award, if you let your natural interests guide you, you'll see great success. If you're passionate about something, it will show. In my opinion, that's what the ASCRS Foundation is looking for in its resident awardees: people who care about what they do and get involved in activities (research, free clinics, patient care or other leadership) that motivate them. 

Resident Excellence Awards Review Committee

David H. Aizuss, MD, FACS

Jessica B. Ciralsky, MD

Michele Lee, MD

Douglas Koch, MD

Sumit Garg, MD

Michael Taravella, MD

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