Horton Wins 2008 Bressler Prize in Vision Science
Jonathan C. Horton, MD, PhD, professor in the departments of ophthalmology, neurology and physiology at UCSF, has won the 2008 Alfred W. Bressler Prize in Vision Science, awarded by the Jewish Guild for the Blind.
The guild's Bressler Committee, made up of prominent ophthalmologists, optometrists and vision scientists from this country's foremost vision care agencies and universities, chose Horton after careful review of the nominees and their accomplishments. He will be awarded the $40,000 prize at a ceremony in New York City in autumn 2008.
Horton is respected both as an outstanding clinical neuro-ophthalmologist as one of the leading neuroscientists in the country. His contributions can be broadly categorized under three headings. The first area of interest is clinical neuro-ophthalmology, where he has made important contributions by elucidating the features, causes and treatment of neurological disorders that cause visual loss in patients. The second area of Horton's work deals with amblyopia and strabismus. In the laboratory, he is studying visual function in humans and monkeys with these disorders, which affect about 2 percent of children in the United States. He is the principal investigator of a study entitled "Structural Basis of Amblyopia and Strabismus," supported by the National Eye Institute. The goal of this research is to understand the alterations in the function of the visual cortex that occur in amblyopia and strabismus, in the hope of preventing or reversing these conditions. The third area of Horton's research concerns the function of the visual cortex, and how it mediates visual perception. The information gleaned from his studies will provide new insight into how visual areas are organized in the primate brain, their interconnections and the impact of experience upon their development. Horton's important contributions to neuro-ophthalmology are numerous, and they all share a similar goal, which is to bring state-of-the-art neuroscience from the laboratory and apply it to important clinical problems facing the clinician, especially in the case of amblyopia and strabismus. Horton received his MD degree and PhD degree in neurobiology from Harvard Medical School. He received his BA degree in history from Stanford University. He completed an internship and one year of residency training in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Georgetown University Hospital. Horton completed fellowships in neuro-ophthalmology and pediatric ophthalmology at UCSF. In 1990, Horton became a full-time member of the UCSF ophthalmology faculty. The Bressler Prize in Vision Science was established in 2001, through a generous bequest of Alfred W. Bressler (1905-1999), a noted New York attorney who enjoyed a distinguished legal career for more than 70 years, most of that time with the prestigious law firm of Moses & Singer. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Law in 1927, Bressler received recognition in 1998 when a professorship was named in his honor. Source: The Jewish Guild for the Blind Related Links: Laboratory for Visual Neurocience The Jewish Guild for the Blind
The guild's Bressler Committee, made up of prominent ophthalmologists, optometrists and vision scientists from this country's foremost vision care agencies and universities, chose Horton after careful review of the nominees and their accomplishments. He will be awarded the $40,000 prize at a ceremony in New York City in autumn 2008.
Horton is respected both as an outstanding clinical neuro-ophthalmologist as one of the leading neuroscientists in the country. His contributions can be broadly categorized under three headings. The first area of interest is clinical neuro-ophthalmology, where he has made important contributions by elucidating the features, causes and treatment of neurological disorders that cause visual loss in patients. The second area of Horton's work deals with amblyopia and strabismus. In the laboratory, he is studying visual function in humans and monkeys with these disorders, which affect about 2 percent of children in the United States. He is the principal investigator of a study entitled "Structural Basis of Amblyopia and Strabismus," supported by the National Eye Institute. The goal of this research is to understand the alterations in the function of the visual cortex that occur in amblyopia and strabismus, in the hope of preventing or reversing these conditions. The third area of Horton's research concerns the function of the visual cortex, and how it mediates visual perception. The information gleaned from his studies will provide new insight into how visual areas are organized in the primate brain, their interconnections and the impact of experience upon their development. Horton's important contributions to neuro-ophthalmology are numerous, and they all share a similar goal, which is to bring state-of-the-art neuroscience from the laboratory and apply it to important clinical problems facing the clinician, especially in the case of amblyopia and strabismus. Horton received his MD degree and PhD degree in neurobiology from Harvard Medical School. He received his BA degree in history from Stanford University. He completed an internship and one year of residency training in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Georgetown University Hospital. Horton completed fellowships in neuro-ophthalmology and pediatric ophthalmology at UCSF. In 1990, Horton became a full-time member of the UCSF ophthalmology faculty. The Bressler Prize in Vision Science was established in 2001, through a generous bequest of Alfred W. Bressler (1905-1999), a noted New York attorney who enjoyed a distinguished legal career for more than 70 years, most of that time with the prestigious law firm of Moses & Singer. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Law in 1927, Bressler received recognition in 1998 when a professorship was named in his honor. Source: The Jewish Guild for the Blind Related Links: Laboratory for Visual Neurocience The Jewish Guild for the Blind