Lighthouse Guild, the leading not-for profit vision and healthcare organization, honored two scientists for their significant achievements in vision research at the 2017 Alfred W. Bressler Vision Science Symposium and Award Luncheon and the Pisart Award Lecture. The symposium, awards ceremony and lecture was held at The University Club of New York on October 20 and 21. 

Dr. Russell N. Van Gelder, was presented with the 2017 Bressler Prize, and Dr. Yoshikazu Imanishi received the 2017 Pisart Award. Dr. Van Gelder is the Boyd K. Bucey Memorial Chair, Professor and Department Chair, Department of Ophthalmology, at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. His research on non-visual photoreception, an unconventional kind of light-sensitivity sometimes described as “sensing light without sight” has been widely heralded and published.